Till Second Death Do Us Part
by Sweet Honey-sempai
Summary: Hisoka asks Tsuzuki a question. That question sets the stage for all of Meifu to find love and closure. Chapter 16: Letting go of the past can be either easy or difficult, but it's something everyone has to do.
1. The Question

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yami No Matsuei

**Genre:** Romance, Drama, Angst, Humor

**Characters:** Hisoka, Tsuzuki, Watari, Tatsumi, Saya, Yuma, Tsubaki, Eileen, Hijiri, Kazusa, Wakaba, Terazuma, assorted Shinigami and Shikigami (Muraki?)

**Pairings:** (Established) Hisoka/Tsuzuki, Saya/Yuma, Tsubaki/Eileen, (Forthcoming) Terazuma/Wakaba, Tatsumi/Watari, (Implied) Hijiri/Kazusa

**Spoilers:** Anime episodes 1-13, Manga volumes 1-9 (Anime takes precedence).

**Timeline:** June 1996—Vampire's Lure arc (Nagasaki). September 1996—Devil's Trill arc (Kumamoto). April 1997—King of Swords arc (Queen Camellia). December 1997—Snow Queen arc (Hokkaido). January 1998—Martial Arts Competition arc (Meifu). March 1998—St. Michel arc (Nagasaki). May 1998—Count's Story arc (Meifu). December 1998—Demon's Reckoning arc (Kyoto). January 1999—Shikigami arc (Kansei). May 2000—Now (Meifu).

**Background Info #1:** Hisoka mentions an instance leading to he and Tsuzuki moving in together. The text explains it pretty well, but if you have any further questions, leave them in a review and I'll explain on the review board.

**Background Info #2: **Tsubaki and Eileen are both in Meifu. They both have 17-year-old bodies. After Tsubaki died Eileen was freed and sent back to Hong Kong, where she became a Shinigami (partnered with Maria Wong). Saya and Yuma found Eileen in the summer of 1999 and reunited her with Tsubaki. (This will eventually become a story, if my Microsoft Word will actually save the document…) Tsubaki lives in Meifu waiting for a Shinigami post, but Eileen is still a Shinigami in Hong Kong.

**Background Info # 3:** Kazusa lives in Meifu, HOWEVER! she is not dead. If you think about it, dying in a place inhabited by dead people is a double negative and therefore negates itself. But since she has no living family, and since Hijiri can probably only take care of himself, she lives in Meifu with some dead people who adopted her. She is also around 12 years old. (I don't know her actual age so I just made her 8 at the time of her appearance, and this story takes place about four years after that.)

**Background Info # 4:** I am not including the Kurosaki arc (Kamakura). Hisoka's hunt for a Shikigami turned out all for naught. (Poor Riko!) The characters from Kansei are all there, though.

**Much-Needed Information Or I'll Make Up My Own Answers:** How did Ruka (Tsuzuki's sister) die?

* * *

The Question

* * *

18 months. A bare year and a half since "what happened in Kyoto", the euphemism that Tsuzuki's attempted murder-suicide was going as these days. And they were sitting in the same restaurant that they had been in 18 months ago.

Tsuzuki was knocking back a salty dog while Hisoka sipped quietly on a Café Vienna. Every once in a while Tsuzuki stopped drinking and covered Hisoka's free hand with his own, smiling at his partner and housemate. Hisoka would bite the fleshy inside of his lips and look embarrassed enough to be publicly decent, though every time he would turn his hand and tickle Tsuzuki's palm, smiling.

"The apple pie here is delicious," Tsuzuki said, in a very hint-dropping way.

"You can get the pie, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said, his voice world-weary.

"Yay! Love you, Hisoka!" Tsuzuki leaned over the table and planted a kiss on Hisoka's mouth.

A year ago that would have scrambled Hisoka's thoughts and set his face cherry red. Now his thoughts remained perfectly ordered and his face warmed only a little. He may have an uncontrollable blush complex but spending a year and a half in a dedicated relationship with the demonstrative man in Meifu made one used to some things. Though no one, except for the record keepers, knew that they were living together just yet. Hisoka didn't want the crude jokes that were bound to follow such an announcement. While he could easily silence such remarks with a glare, the jokes would only dredge up memories of their disastrous first attempt at lovemaking, which had ended abruptly when Hisoka heard Muraki's voice in his head and consequently nearly clawed Tsuzuki to shreds with his fingernails. Granted, the incident had led directly to them moving in together ("Is it okay if you stay here for today?" "It's okay if I stay here forever."), and their relationship had only blossomed since then, but it was still a painful, unpleasant memory that could only serve as a detriment.

Obviously, Tsuzuki felt so as well. Since they began cohabitating he hadn't pushed for another try or even hinted at it, even though they slept in the same bed and always managed to wake up tangled in each other's arms.

Tsuzuki's emotions were usually pleasant, which made for warm, cozy nights. Nights when Tsuzuki was upset were few and far between, and those nights entailed either sleeplessness of the couch for Hisoka—usually the former, as what upset Tsuzuki usually did likewise for Hisoka.

"Want a piece?" Tsuzuki offered, holding a bite-sized morsel out for Hisoka on his fork and snapping Hisoka out of his stupor. The image conjured up the memory of the proverbial morning after (though the night before had been anything but typical), when Tsuzuki had made him play the invalid and fed him anything he ate that day. Hisoka's initial annoyed feeling had given way to enjoyment of being taken care of, not to mention the pleasure he got seeing how happy it had made Tsuzuki.

"If you think you can stand the parting," Hisoka said, taking the fork.

"I'll muddle through somehow," Tsuzuki said, grinning, as Hisoka put the fork in his mouth and pulled it out, leaving the pie behind.

"It's good." He handed the fork back.

"I told you!" Tsuzuki offered another forkful, which Hisoka allowed Tsuzuki to feed him. Then Tsuzuki settled into the rest of his three slices and Hisoka ordered another drink.

It was pitch-black by the time they paid their check and left. Pools of lamplight and the moon dimly lit the night. Almost instinctively Tsuzuki reached for Hisoka's hand; equally naturally Hisoka did the same. Tsuzuki pulled Hisoka closer to him and kissed the top of his head, allowing Hisoka a whiff of his feelings.

"Nostalgic."

"Huh?"

"You're feeling nostalgic."

"Oh, well…look where we are," Tsuzuki said, gesturing. "We were here 18 months ago. Right here you found out how everyone hated me because of my eyes. And you looked right into them and basically told me that you didn't care. Strange enough, that's a good memory for me."

"Not really for me."

"I know," Tsuzuki said, leaning down forward to kiss Hisoka's forehead. "It's bittersweet, what happened then and after that."

"Tsuzuki?"

"Yeah?"

"Did it…bother you that I saved you?"

"Tatsumi asked me the exact same thing, and the answer still hasn't changed. No."

"But Tatsumi saved you after I convinced you to change your mind. You don't think it was selfish of me?"

"Well, at the time, yeah. But now that I think about it…not really."

"How so?"

"I though I was useless. I thought I only hurt people. And then at rock bottom you told me that you needed me. You don't know how good that felt. That was the best thing anyone could ever do for me. And besides, if I had refused to go back, you would have died with me. You would have given up your second chance at life to let me know I was loved. That's pretty selfless, if you ask me."

""An immature love says 'I love you because I need you', but a mature love says 'I need you because I love you'"," Hisoka quoted softly.

"Yeah, that applies to us," Tsuzuki said. "I loved you before Touda and you realized you loved me during it. So we're good, selfless, mature lovers."

"Tsuzuki, do you want to get married?"

Both of them stopped in their tracks. Tsuzuki slowly turned to look at his partner.

"Do I…what?"

"People with a selfless, mature love get married, don't they?" Hisoka asked nervously, his face afire. "And we've known each other forfour years…been dating for a year and a half…we live together…and…I…I want to…I want to marry you."

"Do I want to marry you, hmm, let me think, uh, yeah!"

Hisoka crashed to the ground as Tsuzuki tackled him and kissed him so hard he feared for breath.

"How long have you been thinking about it?"

"Unconsciously? Since Touda. Consciously…about three seconds."

"We moved in together on a whim, too, and look at us now! Engaged!" Tsuzuki kissed him again. "God, I'm so happy! I'm engaged!"

"You are _definitely_ the bride," Hisoka muttered.

"I am _not_ wearing a dress!" Tsuzuki said indignantly, and Hisoka almost laughed at the pout on his face. "In fact, when Saya and Yuma get a hold of you, _you'll_ be the one in the dress."

"Harpies," Hisoka muttered. Tsuzuki laughed, put his hands on Hisoka's face, and pulled him into another kiss, and another, and another, each one increasing in intensity. Hisoka flinched and Tsuzuki stopped short. Pulling his face back, he lifted his hand and stroked Hisoka's cheek.

"Will you be…?"

"By our wedding," Hisoka promised.

Tsuzuki hugged him around the waist, nuzzling his head into Hisoka's collarbone. "I love you."

"I know," Hisoka replied quietly. "And I love you, too."

"Of course you do, you asked me to marry you!" Tsuzuki jumped up, suddenly excited again, and reached down a hand to help his new fiancé to his feet. "Come on! This calls for a celebration!"

"We just ate," Hisoka reminded Tsuzuki as he regained his balance.

"No, I mean more people have to know about this!" Tsuzuki paused. "And _then_ we can eat again," he tacked on with a wink.

"Who are you planning to tell?" Hisoka questioned.

"Well, everyone! I'd tell the whole world but I doubt they'd take me seriously—or they'd have me arrested because they don't know you're actually an adult now."

"Thanks for that totally unnecessary reminder that I look pubescent."

Tsuzuki gave him a wrinkled, apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"Forget it. I know you see me as an adult. Hopefully."

"Yes, I do," Tsuzuki said reassuringly. He squeezed Hisoka's hand, and then grinned even further than he had before, if that was even physically possible. "Now come on! There's no way I can keep this quiet for more than a day!"

"Wait a second here…"

"Hisoka! You can't expect me not to tell everyone!"

"Who's "everyone"?"

"Who do you think, silly? The office! Tatsumi, Watari, Chief Konoe, the Gushoshin, Wakaba…ooh, and I have to tell Suzaku and Touda and Byakko and the rest of my Shiki! And-and-and we can tell Hijiri and Maria! And don't you wanna tell Tsubaki?"

"Don't you think we should plan this before we tell anybody? They're going to bombard us with questions and we won't have an answer."

"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki whined. "This is gonna kill me and you know it!"

"I'm sadistic like that," Hisoka said proudly.

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

"Yeah, I don't," Tsuzuki said in mock-defeat. "Well…since you won't let me tell anyone first…"

"We can go get some Noji."

"Yay!"


	2. Gospel

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yami No Matsuei

**Background Information #1:** Here is a run-down of Tsuzuki's Shikigami in their human forms, since they're mentioned in this chapter and show up next chapter. Some info might be a little off, but I don't have volumes 10 and 11 so I'm free tweak them a little bit. (Speaking of tweaking, I _have_ to change Hisoka's birthday. October 20th makes him a _Libra_. Do you know how _NOT_ a Libra Hisoka is?)

Suzaku—The Red Phoenix, who obviously controls fire. She has a fiery personality to match, though those around her love her and call her "Neechan". She adores Tsuzuki to the point of disobeying his orders if it means protecting him. (She also has a Hisoka complex not unlike Saya and Yuma, though much milder.) She and Touda hate each other and swordfight every day (UST, anyone?).

Byakko—The White Tiger who controls wind. He is very young, carefree, a slacker, and likes to nap.

Seiryuu—The Blue Dragon who controls water. He is very stern and extremely respected. He is also irrational and a superstitious stick. He doesn't like Hisoka because he believes he is a harbinger of doom.

Genbu—The Black Turtle who controls Earth. He is very old, loves money, and gets kicked around a lot.

Touda—The Flame of the Serpent whose fire can kill the dead. He's a real bada—s, however, he is extremely loyal to Tsuzuki and obeys his orders to a T. Touda never acts alone and refuses to do anything Tsuzuki doesn't order him to. He and Suzaku hate each other and fight daily.

Rikugo—He can stop time and specials in astrology. He is very scholarly and friendly, though he doesn't appear to get along with Seiryuu. He has six eyes.

Kijin—The Thunder Emperor ("Rai Tei") who controls water, and is also a diviner. He is Seiryuu's elder child, though very gentle, unlike his father.

Tenko—The Ocean Queen ("Kai Ou") who controls water. She is Seiryuu's younger daughter, and is very shy and cute. (Her name roughly means "Little angel"!)

Taimou—The Kishujin whose power allegedly deals in restricting things. She has no face.

Kouchin—The Court Musician whose power lies in her instrument, a Biwa. She has a Hisoka complex much like Suzaku's.

Tenku and Daion—A building called "Ojisama" and a cooking pot, respectively.

**Background Information #2:** For anyone who doesn't know, Kagan Kuroshungei is Terazuma's Shiki, but it's a parasytic type who posessed him. Because of Kuro, Terazuma can't be touched by women or he'll turn into a monster dog. Only Wakaba can touch him with her fude scrolls.

**Much-Needed Information Or I'll Make Up My Own Answers:** How did Ruka (Tsuzuki's sister) die?

**Shout-Outs:**

ffpanda – The first reviewer! Major thanks and love to you!

jennamarie – I'm glad you like the witty banter. I love it, too. (That's why I write it! )

Rogue Kyne – Hmm…I actually wasn't too concerned with dom/sub. I've actually always been able to see either proposing to the other. (Tsuzuki doing it is a lot shorter and a bit more humorous—though both end up with Hisoka being glomped ). In fact…I don't really understand why the concept of seme/uke is so popular. But that's probably just my thing. In any case, you'll see Hisoka and Tsuzuki switching back and forth a lot.

The multiple pairings is just something that I do. I really can't stand anyone being left out. I actually got criticized for it in one of my HP stories. (By the way, I agree with every one your assessment of Harry Potter couples, although I have a soft spot for Viktor/Hermione because they were really cute in the movie. And I also live in a world where if Harry and Hermione aren't with each other, they're gay except for Hr/V, of course.)

I'm just going to make something up about Ruka when the time comes if no one knows. SPOILER ALERT – This will be in the chapter where Tsuzuki and Hisoka discuss the guests and note how neither one's biological family is going to be there. BIGGER SPOILER ALERT – Hisoka is going to inform his family of the engagement.

Happygreendragon – I'm surprised everyone thinks Tsuzuki would look good in a dress!

Lynn: Ah, faithful reviewer and lovely best friend. Finish the Manga quick so you can understand it all!

**Side Note #1:** This story isn't purely focused on Tsuzuki/Hisoka. The others are going to have a lot of show time for themselves. This story is a lot of fluff/angst mixed in with only a bit of plot, if any.

**Side Note #2:** No one commented, but I just want to clarify: In Meifu, same-sex marriage is legal. More accurately, it's not _il_legal. There's no law one way or another about it.

**Side Note #3:** The title of this chapter refers to the actual meaning of the word ("good news"). It has no religious overtones whatsoever.

* * *

Gospel

* * *

"Now, say it back to me. How are we going to tell everyone that we're engaged?"

"We are going to wait until the end of the workday, ask everyone to come to the break room, and tell them our news in a calm and orderly fashion," Tsuzuki recited like a bored schoolchild.

"And how are we _not _going to answer any questions about any ceremony we may or may not be having?" Hisoka prompted.

"We are never going to say "We don't know" because otherwise they'll be on us like a dog on a three-legged cat."

"Good boy." Hisoka patted his head.

"I'm not too fond of your newfound sense of humor," Tsuzuki complained. "It's mean."

"Well, if you don't like it we can just break the engagement."

Tsuzuki pouted. "See? It's that sick kind of joking that really gets me."

"Did I just hear that correctly?"

Hisoka nearly jumped out of his skin and whirled around at the sound of a female voice. His hand flew to his heart and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who it was. "Oh thank Heaven, it's just you, Tsubaki-_hime_."

"What did I hear about an engage—"

"Shh!" Hisoka hissed at her. "We don't want anyone to hear."

"But you _are_?"

"Yeah!" Tsuzuki yelped excitedly before Hisoka could say anything, and then clasped his hands over his mouth as his fiancé glared at him.

"Oh…my…" Tsubaki broke out a grin and launched herself on Hisoka, planting what qualified as a smooch on his cheek before wrapping her arms around his neck and crushing his head into her collar. "Hisoka! I can't believe it…Hisoka!"

"Shh, _please_," Hisoka begged, managing to disentangle himself from her grasp. "I don't want anyone to know until the end of the day."

"Hisoka wants to tell everyone when works ends so they won't bother us today, and plus they'll have the night to absorb it so they won't bother us as much as they might tomorrow," Tsuzuki put forth helpfully.

Tsubaki's face was colored bright pink. Her hands flew to her cheeks. "I…I can keep a secret." Her countenance changed quickly at the statement, but she managed to shake off the reminder of Muraki immediately. She grinned and looped her arms around Hisoka's in a friendly squeeze, and then hugged Tsuzuki and kissed his cheek. She liked him; he didn't begrudge her for what happened between herself and Hisoka, and even teased them gently about it from time to time.

"But Tsubaki-_hime_, what are you doing here? You don't work here."

"I'm applying," Tsubaki explained. "Someone from Sector 3 is passing on and I want the position."

"Have you told Eileen yet?" Tsuzuki asked.

"No, I want to wait until I get the job, if I do," Tsubaki said. "Oh…if you have a…" she glanced around and saw no one approaching "…ceremony, can I bring her?"

"Uh-huh!" Tsuzuki said, looking positively giddy, to match Hisoka's, "Sure, of course."

"Okay." Tsubaki overturned her arm and looked at the slim blue watch on her wrist. "Well, my interview is in ten minutes so I'd better get going."

"Good luck," Hisoka and Tsuzuki said simultaneously. Tsubaki had to smile at the unanimity.

"Thank you. And act like you aren't acting natural!"

With a small wave of her hand she hurried off.

"Hmm…that's some good advice, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said. "Act like we're not acting natural. But doesn't that just mean to act natural?"

"…I suppose it does, if you play around with the connotation of the word "act"."

"So, how do we act natural?"

"Act like we normally do."

"So, I start the whining, and you start the yelling, and then I start the kissing, and you start the blushing-and-smacking furiously?"

Hisoka thought back to their last workday. The picture Tsuzuki painted actually seemed pretty accurate. He had to give a small smile.

"I suppose so."

"Then let's start. Hisoka…" Tsuzuki paused, looking thoughtful. "I can't think of anything to complain about."

"Idiot."

"Don't make fun of me!"

They pushed open the door to Juohcho and walked in and out of the vestibule and into the main hall as of old.

"You're so mean, Hisoka."

"Please don't whine at me at work, Tsuzuki."

"Oh, so you'd rather I do this?"

And Tsuzuki promptly pulled Hisoka's face to his own and planted his mouth on his fiancé's.

"Tsuzuki, not at work!" Hisoka yelled, smacking Tsuzuki's arm. Both of them heard faint snickers of a coworker catching sight of their little spectacle. A sound they heard on a regular basis.

Tsuzuki made a soft "Hee!" sound in his throat and pulled Hisoka into a hug. "How was that?" he whispered in his ear.

"You have more skills than we give you credit for," Hisoka whispered back.

Tsuzuki made a face and then pushed Hisoka back. "Forgive me, love?"

"Whatever," Hisoka said with a roll of his eyes.

Tsuzuki slipped his hand into Hisoka's, interlacing their fingers, and squeezed it, smiling. That was natural, too.

* * *

"Tatsumi, do you think Tsuzuki is acting more hyper than usual?"

Tatsumi looked up from some files he was poring over to see Watari standing over him, chewing his lip. "You think so too, huh? What tipped you off?"

"He hasn't made a pilgrimage to the vending machines yet, but he's bouncing in his seat like Kazusa-_chan_ did when she had to go to the bathroom when she was younger. And Heaven knows Tsuzuki uses the facilities when he needs to no matter _what's_ happening, so it's not that…"

"Kurosaki-_kun_ is a little off, too," Tatsumi added. "When he was yelling at Tsuzuki this morning for making a scene, he didn't seem to have his heart in it."

Watari sighed. "Do you think it's sad that we're even discussing this? Tsuzuki could have had more sugar than normal this morning. And Bon could just be in a really good mood."

"But you don't really believe that."

"Yeah, I don't. They're hiding something."

"But you're not going to pester them about it."

"No, because if I ask Bon he won't tell me, and if I ask Tsuzuki, he'll tell me and then Bon will be mad at him _and_ me."

"That's prudent of you."

"Compliments from Tatsumi, and so early in the morning? Tsuzuki and Bon aren't the only ones acting odd today."

"Don't you have work to do, Watari?"

"_There_, at least one of you has returned to normal," Watari said jokingly. "And yes, I do."

003 flapped her wings, batting Watari's hair. He made to brush her off his shoulder; she took flight and then perched again. He attempted to remove her again and she once more flew away and landed. The event manifested itself a third time and this time 003 returned preening and obviously victorious. Watari sighed.

"Watari, _work_."

"Oh, if you're so concerned, why don't you just do it yourself?" Watari threw out flippantly, not really a challenge. "You're going to run yourself into the ground with your workaholic ways. Wow, that was some fine use of alliteration…"

003 hooted loudly and took wing from Watari's shoulder to settle on Tatsumi's. Precociously she nibbled on his ear. Tatsumi made to shoo her away, and the stunt she pulled with Watari was repeated, once, twice, three times.

"003, stop being a brat," Watari chided as the owl began circling Tatsumi head triumphantly.

"You should really train your bird better," Tatsumi advised.

"If I ever get around to training her at all," Watari muttered as 003 took flight and this time came to rest on his head, rooting through his hair with her beak. "All right, so what are we going to do abut Tsuzuki and Bon?"

"Absolutely nothing. If something's wrong, they'll tell us."

"Tatsumi, you're no fun. The whole point of not being able to ask them directly is to use sly detective work to figure it out."

"Watari, you are, quite simply, insane."

"Good, that means I'm not off my game," Watari said dismissively.

"And I wouldn't risk bothering Kurosaki-_kun_ about it," Tatsumi advised as Watari began to take his leave.

"Yes, yes, I'll be a good and unobtrusive little mad scientist," Watari called back, flicking his hand above his shoulder in lieu of a wave.

* * *

Tsubaki sighed as she left the interview, shutting the door behind her. She had just spent the last half hour highlighting all her negative qualities in order to convince the high-ups that she'd make a good Shinigami. Taking a job at Juohcho could yield international work, and if taking the post meant seeing Eileen more often…

"Tsu-ba-ki-_chan_!" a chorus of girls' voices rang out, and the debutante was nearly knocked on her stomach as Saya and Yuma collided into her back.

"We came all the way from Hokkaido to see you, darling!" Saya crowed, as they unanimously planted wet, sloppy smooches on Tsubaki's cheeks. "And Hisoka-_chan_ and Tsuzuki, too!"

"Have you seen the little lovebirds today?" Yuma asked.

"Oh, um, yes," Tsubaki said.

"You stuttered! You have a secret!" Saya said.

Tsubaki blinked. "What?"

"Ooh, and it's a big one, you can't let anybody know!" Yuma added.

"But I…adda…wibba…_what_?"

"Spill the beans, sweetie, you know we'll get it from you sooner or later!" Saya teased, snuggling into Tsubaki's shoulder.

"…How…?"

"Never underestimate the Hokkaido girls!" Yuma and Saya recited together, before meeting each other's gazes and giggling hysterically.

"…I just…you two are amazing."

"Thank you!" Saya said.

"We _are_ rather amazing, aren't we?" Yuma said, winking. She slung her hand over Saya's head and pulled the slighter girl into her chest, as Saya wrapped her arms around Yuma's waist. Yuma stuck up her index and middle fingers on her free hand, completing the pose with a Victory sign. "Now tell us your secret!"

"It's not my secret," Tsubaki said. "I promised I wouldn't tell."

"_Ooh_, it's about Tsuzuki and Hisoka, isn't it?" Yuma stated more than asked. "Well, come along, Saya, we have to go get it out of _them_!"

"Wait!" Tsubaki yelled as Saya and Yuma began to scamper off down the hall. The two Hokkaido Shinigami stopped in their tracks and turned to face the flustered, flushed Tsubaki.

"What is it, sweetie?" Saya asked.

"You're going to know the secret at the end of the day," Tsubaki said. "But _please_ don't bother Hisoka or Tsuzuki about it, okay? I'm the only one who knows, and I _promised_ I wouldn't tell anyone."

Saya and Yuma looked at each other. Tsubaki held her breath.

"Okay!" they chirped together, and all the oxygen flew from Tsubaki with an audible "whoosh".

"But we _will_ know by the end of the day, right?" Yuma tacked on.

"You _swear_ it, right?" Saya added.

Tsubaki nodded, her mouth dry. "Yeah."

"Yay!"

"But _you_ have to swear not to tell," Tsubaki reminded them.

"Cross our hearts!" the two girls exclaimed, putting their hands on each other's sternums. "Sealed with a kiss!" they pinned on, giving each other a quick peck on the lips.

Tsubaki sighed. The Shinigami job would also mean sometimes working with these two. As much as she adored the girls, much like one would adore hyperactive little sisters, working with them was not a welcoming prospect.

* * *

"Tatsumi, the Hokkaido girls are acting weird, too."

"Watari, you _do _know that their irritating behavior is standard for them, right?"

"Yeah, but there's something else about them that's wrong today."

"You don't suppose you're just paranoid, Watari?"

"You don't suppose you're just ignorant, Tatsumi?"

"…Watari, your bird…"

A sigh. "003, please don't sit on Tatsumi's head."

"Hoot!"

* * *

"Hajime! Hajime? Hajime…oh, you're sleeping," Wakaba said aloud to herself.

Her partner was kicked back in the reclining position on a chair, his feet up on the desk and his hands behind his head, akimbo. The last remains of a burnt-out cigarette were hanging in his mouth, and his shoes were untied. His eyelids were shut lightly, and the weightlessness of his breathing through his nose and half-open mouth indicated a catnap, though Wakaba knew that if it were truly just catching forty winks, he would have woken up when he heard her calling. Kagan Kuroshungei must be asleep, as well, which meant that Terazuma would not be waking up anytime soon.

"Kuro, you really shouldn't let Hajime fall asleep at work. It's dangerous," Wakaba chided, setting the two Bento she had brought for their lunches on the desk. "Especially with a cigarette in his mouth. Do you want to set the whole building on fire?"

Careful not to make skin contact, she extracted the cigarette from Terazuma's mouth and tossed it in his ashtray. Pulling one Bento towards herself, she opened the package and began poking at the meal with her chopsticks.

"Neh, Hajime, aren't we having great weather?" she asked the sleeping man. "I feel like something good is going to happen." She paused and watched the snoozing form's chest rise and fall.

"I talked to Kotaro and Kojiro today."

Terazuma's ear twitched agitatedly, and Wakaba smiled.

"Get this, Kojiro is actually trying to ask out another Shiki. Seiryuu's niece-in-law, Natsuko. It's very sweet to hear him talk about her. He tells me she's very pretty."

Terazuma's ear twitched again, but he did not seem irritated.

"Neh, Hajime, would you ever tell me that you think I'm pretty?"

Terazuma's ears lay flat out on the sides of his head.

"Kuro must be hungry," Wakaba said, changing the subject. "Should I wake you up using magic?"

Terazuma's ear twitched once again.

"I'll take that as a "yes", Hajime." She materialized an o-fuda scroll, muttered a quick incantation, and slapped it on his forehead. Terazuma awoke with a start, sitting straight up in his chair with an audible gasp.

"Oh, Kannuki, it's you," Terazuma said, scratching the back of his head. "I don't know where Kuroshungei's been getting his energy from, but he crashed a few hours ago and I couldn't stay awake."

"He's probably hungry after his nap," Wakaba said, pushing the Bento towards Terazuma. "Bon appetit, Hajime."

"Oh, thanks, Kannuki," Terazuma said, unwrapping the container and poking the chopsticks into the pool of rice. "Hey, by the way, were you talking while I was asleep?"

"Just some chitchat," Wakaba said. "Like…isn't the weather nice? I love sunny weather. It makes me feel like something good will happen."

"Are you expecting something?"

"Oh, not really…but I would like for Tsubaki to get the job in Sector 3. Her interview's today. Plus, Watari's been putting around a rumor that Tsuzuki has been acting weird, but not the "we're breaking up" weird. More like the "I'm about to burst keeping this secret from you" weird."

"Tsuzuki is weird one way or another," Terazuma said mercilessly, earning him a poke on the arm from Wakaba's chopsticks. "But at least he's not dumping the kid."

"Tsuzuki dump Hisoka? When Hell freezes over." Wakaba smiled brightly. Terazuma gave a half-smile back. Wakaba was cute when she smiled. "It makes me very happy to see how devoted they are. Just goes to show that no matter what you came from, you can be happy, you know? I think that's why I decided to become a Shinigami. I wanted to be happy."

"Most people become Shinigami for that reason," Terazuma allowed, putting another cigarette in his mouth and reaching for his lighter.

"Hajime, please don't smoke? It ruins my hair."

"You and your hair," Terazuma grumbled, but tossed out his unlit cigarette.

"Hajime, why did _you_ become a Shinigami?"

"Why? I dunno." He stabbed his rice with his chopsticks. "Same reason as you, I guess."

"Have you been happy since you began living in Meifu?"

"I don't know." He covered half his face with his hand, instinctively pantomiming holding a cigarette to his mouth. "What's with all the questions, anyway, Kannuki?"

"No reason," Wakaba said, shrugging to try to emphasize her point. "Just…wondering."

* * *

"Hisoka, do you think they're catching on? Watari's been around to talk to me at least five times today. Normally he won't come out of his lab for all the gold in China."

"The Harpies have been swarming around me all day, too," Hisoka said, leaning in close so everyone else was out of earshot. He could feel the eyes staring at him as both of them, opposite each other, leaned across Hisoka's desk in order to talk.

"Just two more hours and we can tell everyone." Tsuzuki drummed the table with his fingertips excitedly. "I'm about to explode with anticipation, Hisoka."

"Please don't. It'll be inconvenient for the janitorial staff to get your entrails out of the carpet."

"You're a sadist."

"Then you're a masochist."

Tsuzuki's expression dropped. Hisoka instantly knew that was the wrong thing to say. They argued every once in a while, usually over Tsuzuki's bouts of depression, and the word "masochist" was no stranger to their heated, albeit few and far between, words.

"If I'm so sadistic, why do you stay with me?" he quickly amended.

"Well, because I love you, duh," Tsuzuki said. "If I'm so masochistic, why do you stay with me?"

"Well," Hisoka said, taking Tsuzuki's one hand in his own two, "because I love you, duh."

Tsuzuki broke out in a wide grin. All thoughts of the troublesome word were dropped with that effortless stretching of face muscles. Tsuzuki reached out with his free hand and brushed Hisoka's bangs to the side, and then kissed his fiancé's forehead.

"Two more hours, eh?" Hisoka stated.

"Yep. Two more hours and we go public."

* * *

It had been, Konoe mentally noted, an unusual day. Watari was acting social, Saya and Yuma were more hyper than usual, that Tsubaki girl was hanging around the office chewing her lip, Wakaba was sulking somewhere, and even Tatsumi seemed a little agitated—probably by all the odd behavior in the office.

It had all started with the rumors about the odd behavior of his Sector 2 employees. Konoe did not want to pry into their lives and so had ignored any nagging thoughts of entertaining curiosity about them. If it was something serious, Kurosaki would report it.

"Hey, _Kachou_? Can you come to the break room?"

Konoe glanced over to see Tsuzuki practically dancing where he stood.

"What for?" Konoe asked.

"Well, haven't you been curious as to what our "secret" is?" Tsuzuki asked, almost childlike in his tone. "Hisoka and I are gonna tell everyone in the break room."

"Good, then maybe the office'll settle down by tomorrow."

"Oh, I dunno about _that_, _Kachou_," Tsuzuki said, his voice dripping tantalizingly. "Hisoka's hoping they'll have the night to digest it, but I've got a feeling a couple hours won't be enough…"

"That big, eh?" Konoe asked, cocking his eyebrow. "Well, I hope it's worth the entire office being off-kilter today."

"Well, _I_ certainly think it is," Tsuzuki said, positively gleeful. "I just hope _you all_ agree. Or Tatsumi'll kill me…Oh, speaking of him, I have to go ask him to come there, too. See you in a few minutes!" Tsuzuki rushed off, following the familiar brown-clad form of his ex-partner.

* * *

"Nervous?" Tsuzuki asked Hisoka, squeezing his hand.

"I'm a little wary of the wave of emotions I _know_ I'm going to feel from them," Hisoka answered pragmatically, watching as Saya and Yuma entered the room giggling and doing faux ballet movements. "Or, in the case of those two four-year-olds—" he pointed at the two Hokkaido Shinigami "—the physical display of emotions I'm going to feel from them."

"I'll stand in front of you to take the brunt of it."

"I don't know if that's going to be enough."

"Well, I'll try something. Might not work, but I'll try."

"Tsuzuki, Kurosaki-_kun_, we're all here." Tatsumi's voice distracted them from their private conversation.

"Tsubaki-_hime_ isn't," Tsuzuki pointed out.

"She said they're getting back to her about the job," Hisoka explained. "And besides, she already knows."

"Good points, both of them," Tsuzuki allowed. "Okay, here goes. Everyone!" He clapped his hands twice to silence the small crowd that had gathered. "Now, as Hisoka and I have heard, you all think we're acting weird today. Which just goes to show that the office has nothing better to do than pry into our personal lives."

"Har, a-har," Watari's voice came acerbically from the back.

"Uh-uh-uh, it's not so bad, because in fact, Hisoka and I _do_ have an announcement to share with you. _But_ I need you to do something. Well, actually, to _not_ do something. Warning: This announcement may cause severe emotional outbursts that may spur an Empathic Reaction courtesy of my partner. So, what I need you all to do, as I'm telling you our announcement, is to try and hold yourselves in check. This goes doubly for Torii-_san_ and Fukiya-_san_ over there," he said, winking at the pair. "Try and keep your distance and approach us one at a time when we're done, okay? Promise?"

"We promise!" Saya and Yuma chorused.

"Tsuzuki, I don't trust them," Hisoka said plainly.

"It was worth a shot," Tsuzuki said. "Okay, so prep yourselves to hold back, everyone!" He clapped his hands again. "Now, as you may well know, it's been about 18 months since Hisoka and I started dating. Now, 18 months seems like a long time, right? Long enough to at least have some idea if you're going to make it or break it, right? Well, we know which course we're going to take. Now, last night, Hisoka and I were on a date. We got to talking about some pretty serious, and unfortunately for you, private stuff. And then Hisoka asked me a yes-or-yes question."

"You mean "yes-or-no"," Tatsumi corrected.

"No, I mean "yes-or-yes"," Tsuzuki insisted. "There was no possible way I could have answered "no"."

Hisoka's head, which was starting to feel a tension headache from the growing anticipation in the room, suddenly felt a little lighter.

"So, now that you know the answer, you'll want to know the question, neh? Well…Hisoka asked me to marry him."

The door swung open. "Am I interrupting…?"

"KYAH!"

Tsubaki was suddenly tackled to the ground as Saya and Yuma, forbidden from unleashing their excitement upon their preferred target, instead focused their energy on the closest moving object.

"They're getting married! And you didn't tell us! You horrible person!"

"S-Seriously?" Watari managed to stutter out. "You're…really…engaged?"

"Yep!" Tsuzuki said, his face lit up like icicle lights. He pulled Hisoka into his side. "You are looking at a pair of 1-day fiancés right here!"

"Can…can we approach you now?"

"If you remain calm and orderly," Hisoka muttered.

003 was the first to advance, by flying wildly into Hisoka's face and nearly knocking him to the floor. As Hisoka desperately swatted her away, Watari distracted Tsuzuki with a hug and a twisting fist to the side of the head.

"All I can say is "about time"!" Watari crowed, managing to grasp 003 around the body and pull her away from Hisoka. "I'm surprised Bon did the asking, though." He caught Hisoka's neck and poked the blonde's temple. "Wow, I really don't know what to say!"

"I do!"

Wakaba flung herself onto Hisoka in a bear hug. Hisoka winced at her shock of emotion but convinced himself it was better than having a certain other pair of girls on him.

"Hisoka, I _knew_ something good was going to happen today!" Wakaba squealed. "Oh my God, I can't believe it! Oh, Tsuzuki!" She abandoned Hisoka and flung her arms around Tsuzuki, knocking Konoe out of the way.

"Well, I seriously question your sanity, kid, but you obviously know him better than I do," Terazuma said, sticking his hand out for Hisoka to shake. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Hisoka said, for both the words and the calmness.

"HISOKA!"

Terazuma narrowly avoided transforming by flinging himself out of the way of Saya and Yuma. Hisoka was not quite as lucky; he managed to avoid Yuma but was entrapped by Saya's embrace. The less intense of the two girls snuggled her head into his neck while Yuma struggled to regain her footing.

"Ooh, Hisoka, you _have_ to let us help you plan this!"

"Actually, Tsuzuki and I already thought of…"

"Aw, you two are so sweet, planning a wedding!" Yuma cooed, balancing her elbow on his head.

"It's just a small ceremony…"

"Saya, this may be the perfect time to get Hisoka into that Pink House…"

"All right, all right, that's enough, girls," Tsuzuki said, removing Hisoka from their clutches with one jerky pull that knocked the three of them off-balance. "Just calm down."

"Aw, how cute, so protective of your groom-to-be!" they crowed in unison.

"Saya, Yuma," Tsubaki said from behind them. "Don't you think you should…"

"And _you_!" Saya and Yuma seized Tsubaki and knocked her to the ground, sitting on her. "You little sneak, keeping this from us for an entire day! We knew you had a secret, but not _this _big!"

Tsuzuki and Hisoka took this opportunity to edge slowly away from the squabbling girls.

"Tsuzuki."

Both Hisoka and Tsuzuki looked to the location of the voice.

"Tatsumi."

Tatsumi stood stiffly, as if statuette. Hisoka bit his lower lip and stepped away from Tsuzuki. The conversation he'd had with Tatsumi two years ago, when Tsuzuki had been sucked into one of the Count's novels, was replaying in his head. It had been so obvious, even without his Empathy, and after seeing the novel through, Tsuzuki would have to be blind not to know…

"Tsuzuki, I…I'm happy for you."

Tsuzuki smiled, and Tatsumi did, too. Hisoka could tell there was genuineness on their faces, and an absence of coldness. But he could also feel something so off about Tatsumi that it was painful for him to feel.

"Thanks, Tatsumi," Tsuzuki said gratefully, offering his hand. Tatsumi did likewise. Instead of shaking it, Tsuzuki squeezed it, and then pulled his old partner into a hug. Tatsumi slung his arm around Tsuzuki's back and returned the embrace. "Thanks."

"Hisoka?" The perpetual 16-year-old turned to look at Gushoshin II hovering near his head.

"Yeah?" Hisoka said, turning away from the scene.

"Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Hisoka replied.

"That goes double," Gushoshin I said, floating on the other side of Hisoka's face. "If anyone told me that you two would be getting married on the day you nearly shot him and he got you drunk, I would've checked them into a mental hospital."

"Well, there'll be no guns or alcohol at the actual ceremony, I'm hoping," Tsuzuki said, and Hisoka felt a pair of arms wrap around his stomach and pull him into contact with another body. "But knowing Terazuma and Watari, they just might be at the reception."

Hisoka glanced up to see Tsuzuki's face directly over his. From the corner of his eye he saw someone leave the room, and someone else go out after him with the words, "I resent that, Tsuzuki."

"And anyways, the best romances are unexpected," Tsuzuki said, ignoring the leaving Watari's comment.

"Uh-huh," Gushoshin I said, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "And where did you get that bit of _factual information_?"

"From experience," Tsuzuki said, putting his hand under Hisoka's chin and tipping his fiancé's head up so he could plant a kiss on his mouth.

"AW!" came from the predictable pair.

"Saya, Yuma, get up, you're crushing Tsubaki!" Wakaba yelped, seeing the dark shade of pink Tsubaki's face was turning from the weight of the two girls sitting on her stomach. Saya and Yuma scrambled off of Tsubaki, leaving the skinny girl huffing as she tried to catch her breath.

"That's what you get for keeping a secret!" they chided, wagging their fingers. Both offering one hand, they pulled Tsubaki to her feet and supported her by squishing her in between the two of them and draping their arms around Tsubaki's shoulders.

"Tsuzuki, how are you gonna break this to the Count?" Wakaba asked, turning back to the taller Shinigami. "You _know_ he's going to find out one way or another."

"Um…" Tsuzuki scratched the back of his head. "I was hoping to come up with a way while we told my Shiki…I want him to be the last to know."

"Telling your Shiki?" Wakaba pursed her lips. "If you tell them, they'll want to be at the ceremony. Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because Seiryuu hates Hisoka," Wakaba pointed out.

"And Touda and Suzaku hate each other," Saya added.

"And Tenkuu is a _building_," Gushoshin I said informatively.

"And Rikugo might open all six eyes," Gushoshin offered helpfully.

"And Byakko needs some serious meds," Yuma rounded out.

"Oh…good points. Heh." He paused. "But, still, I can't just _not_ tell my Shiki," Tsuzuki blurted out defiantly. "This is the best thing that ever happened to me. They're my friends; they should know."

"Another good point," Tsubaki managed to wheeze out.

"Besides, I really need to buy some time," Tsuzuki tacked on. "I _really_ don't want to face the Count just now."

"Plus, we also still need to tell Kazusa, Hijiri, and Maria," Hisoka said. "And Tsubaki-_hime_ might as well come with us to Hong Kong, if she's going to invite Eileen."

"The Count might find out while you two are gone," Wakaba said. "In fact, that just might be the best way for him to find out. It'll give him some grieving time before you guys come back."

"It's so sad that that's true," Yuma said, shaking her head.

"I'll take you guys to Kansei," Wakaba said. "Ooh, I just can't believe it! You're off to tell your Shiki that you're _getting married_!" Wakaba threw her arms around both Hisoka, who was still being held tightly to his fiancé's chest, and Tsuzuki. "I really can't believe it!"

"_I_ can believe it," Tsubaki wheezed, still smarting in her rib cage.

"Oh, sweetie, we're sorry," Saya and Yuma cooed, planting identical, symmetrical, sloppy kisses on Tsubaki's cheeks.

"Who's going to tell the Count while we're away?" Hisoka asked pragmatically.

"We'll ask Konoe-_kachou _to, he's closest with the Count," Yuma offered.

"So, Kansei first, and then we'll go tell Kazusa, and then Hijiri, and then off to Hong Kong for Maria and Eileen?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Yep! Oh, I can't _believe_ this!"


	3. Delayed Reaction

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yami No Matsuei

**Additional Characters:** All Tsuzuki's Shikigami, Kotaro, Kojiro, OFC, Maria, Ukyo, Muraki, Ruka, OMC (Chizuru? Rika?)

**Additional Pairings:** Ukyo/Muraki, Ruka/OMC, Maria/Kijin, Kojiro/OFC (Chizuru/Rika?)

**Additional Background Information:** I decided to make Tsuzuki's landlords the ones who adopted Kazusa.

**Much-Needed Information Or I'll Make Up My Own Answers:** How did Ruka (Tsuzuki's sister) die?

**Shout-Outs:**

Happygreendragon – Look up at the list of Additional Characters. I've decided to include Muraki! Tee-hee! However, he's not going to be a major player. His existence hinges on Ukyo appearing. After that, he'll just go away, unless I get another random flash of brilliance.

jennamarie – You're welcome! And yes, Daion is a pot. As I look at him, he looks like a flower pot more than anything, but he's a pot nonetheless.

December Jewel – Thank you!

Lynn - Thanks!

**Side Note #1:** Right, so I changed Tsuzuki's and Hisoka birthdays! Finally! They were annoying me to no end. Hisoka as a Libra physically hurts me. (Muraki as a Sagittarius hurts me more, but I didn't feel like fixing it just yet.) So I changed Hisoka to November 14th, making him a Scorpio, a Chestnut Tree, and with the Life Path 7. I also changed Tsuzuki to March 6th, making him still a Pisces (Matsushita really hit the nail on the head with Tsuzuki's sign), a Weeping Willow Tree, and with the Life Path 9. Here's what it says about them:

Pisces: Sensitive, compassionate, helpful, sociable, adaptable, open, relaxed, intuitive, artistic, romantic, imaginative, kind, selfless, generous, philosophical, shy, dependent, unpunctual, untidy, undisciplined, escapist, careless, impractical, gullible, overemotional, vague, weak-willed, proud, slippery, impressionable, secretive, habit-prone

Weeping Willow Tree: Beautiful, attractive, compassionate, honest, intuitive, melancholic, demanding, restless, capricious, loves the beautiful, loves the tasteful, dreamer, traveler, impressionable, suffers in love but eventually finds an anchoring partner

Life Path 9: Humanitarian, idealistic, broad-minded, compassionate, charismatic, creative, perceptive, teacher, self-critical, social reformer

Scorpio: Passionate, subtle, magnetic, deep, focused, psychological, independent, exciting, loyal, tenacious, analytical, hateful, rigid, suspicious, overbearing, sarcastic, vengeful, forceful, stubborn, self-destructive, jealous, obsessive, manipulative, penetrating, secretive, easily hurt, ambitious

Chestnut Tree: Unusually beautiful, vivacious, interesting, modest, has a sense of justice, fair, irritable, lacks self-confidence, feels misunderstood, shy, has difficulties finding love, loves only once

Life Path 7: Secretive, loner, perceptive, analytical, spiritual, planner, quick, decisive, truthful, loyal, deep thinker, perfectionist

I also made up personalities for Taimou and Kouchin based on their character numbers.

* * *

Delayed Reactions

* * *

Wakaba hummed a made-up tune, tapping her foot against the floor as she typed in the coordinates for the Suzaku Gate. As the gates opened and the smoke cleared, it took all the self-restraint she had not to fly her body and her news directly into Kotaro and Kojiro's faces.

"Finally asked her out, eh, eh, Kojiro? You'll be sucking face soon enough, eh, eh?"

"Ooh, it's a great day for love!" Wakaba said, clapping her hands together. "Did Kojiro ask Natsuko out?"

"I don't know; that's what I've been trying to get out of him all day," Kotaro said. "Why's it a great day for love, _miko_? Are things finally going well with Terazuma?"

"No!" Wakaba yelled, gesticulating wildly and blushing. "It's these two!" She pointed with her thumb and pointer finger at Tsuzuki and Hisoka. "They're engaged!"

"Engaged? Whoa, I thought they were just partners."

"No! They've been serious for a year and a half. They're going to Kansei to tell Tsuzuki's Shiki!"

"All 12 of them? Good luck with that," Kotaro said, half-joking, half-sincere. "Well, pass through, you two."

A whirling gray cloud suddenly and swiftly enveloped Tsuzuki and Hisoka and pulled them imperceptibly into Kansei. As the Suzaku gate closed, Wakaba turned her energies to Kojiro. "Did you ask Natsuko? Did you?"

* * *

"I hate this gate," Hisoka said, coughing forcibly. He opened his eyes to once again find himself floating above the city of the imaginary world. It was still afternoon in Kansei, with an impeccably blue sky complete with fluffy white clouds.

"Hisoka, watch out!"

Tsuzuki grabbed Hisoka arm and yanked him out of the way as something red and scintillating whizzed past where his face had just been.

"Not good enough, Suzaku-_imotou_!" a taunting male voice came from below them.

"I am seriously going to murder you!" a livid female voice followed.

"Suzaku and Touda are going at it again," Tsuzuki sighed, as one who expects bad news. "It's well enough that we came now, so we could stop them. The last time they fought Tenku took some damage; I don't think he'll be too thrilled if it happened again…" Taking Hisoka's hand, he descended towards where the two voices were still locked in a battle of words and well as fire.

"Hey! Suzaku! Touda! Knock it off! Touda, I _command_ you to stop! Suzaku, come on, stop it!"

Suzaku took one last furious swipe with her sword before managing to stop herself. Touda doused the fireball he was summoning in his hand, and both of them turned to look at where Tsuzuki and Hisoka had landed.

"Tsuzuki! Hisoka!" Suzaku's sword dematerialized as she ran at them, throwing her arms around them in a double-glomp. "What are you two doing here?"

"Hmph. Split personality, much?" Touda grumbled, putting his arms akimbo and glaring after Suzaku.

"Shut up!" Suzaku shot back, letting go of her master though unwilling to let go of his companion.

"YAY! Tsuzuki and Hisoka 'r' here!"

A flying tackle knocked Hisoka out of Suzaku's grasp and face-forward into the concrete. His albino tail wagging cheerily back and forth, Byakko perched triumphantly on Hisoka's back.

"Finally! I was gonna get Seiryuu to hit them with some water if they kept on fighting, but you stopped them for us!"

"D'you mind _getting off of me_!" Hisoka hollered petulantly, trapped under the weight of the White Tiger's human form.

Byakko scrambled off Hisoka's back and Hisoka got to his feet, feeling his spine and the adjacent bones creaking. Pressing his palms to the small of his back, he arched his spine inward to stretch it out. He nearly jumped when he felt a pair of hands on his back, pressing the thumbs into his skin to ease the ache, but after the second of panic had passed he knew whose hands those were.

"Why are you here?" Suzaku asked.

"Hisoka and I've got some news for you guys!" Tsuzuki said. "Listen, can you guys get Seiryuu and the rest to come to Tenku? It's _really_ big and I want you all to know at the same time, so can you do me that favor? Please?"

"Of course, Tsuzuki," Suzaku said helpfully.

"Sure!" Byakko said. "Tenko and I were playing hide-and-seek before Touda and Suzaku started fighting…but that was…fifteen minutes ago…uh-oh…Tenko? TENKO!" Byakko shot off, searching for Tsuzuki's youngest Shikigami.

Touda sighed a sigh of the long-suffering and wondered off to help with the search.

"You're sure you want them at our wedding?" Hisoka asked.

Tsuzuki did not deign to answer, and instead poked his finger into Hisoka's temple.

"Come on, Hisoka, Tenku's waiting!"

* * *

"You two are WHAT?"

The above written was the collective cry from 9 voices, each in varying tones. Two voices were silent, being non-existent, and the third let out a squeak and threw its tiny, feminine body onto Hisoka's leg, wrapping its arms around his thigh.

"You're…not…happy?" Tsuzuki asked slowly, staring at the other 11 of his Shikigami as Hisoka tried to pry Tenko off his leg.

Byakko's answer came not in the form of words, but rather in his signature physical display of affection: a running hug that knocked Tsuzuki flat.

"Byakko, get off him!" Suzaku squawked, rushing forward to drag Byakko off his master and help Tsuzuki up, only to imitate what Byakko had done, though to a lesser degree. Tsuzuki managed to stay on his feet.

"Suzaku-_neechan_, that's not fair!" Byakko whined. "How come you get to—hey, there's Hisoka!"

Hisoka yanked Tenko off his leg and held her up in front of his face as a deflector for Byakko. The defensive move was effective for Byakko from the front, but not Kouchin from behind.

"Kouchin, I'm glad you're happy, but Hisoka's face is turning red," Tsuzuki yelled over at her, seeing the dark pink tint his partner's face was turning from the tightness of her arms around his stomach. Kouchin let go, and Hisoka audibly gasped for breath.

"Tenko is a good shield, isn't she?" Kijin asked, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. Gently pushing Byakko out of the way, he fetched Tenko from Hisoka's hands and blocked the path of any other tacklers. "Congratulations, Hisoka. I'm very happy for you two."

"Thanks," Hisoka said, grateful for both the words and the protection.

"Daddy, isn't it great?" Tenko called, waving her arm wildly at Seiryuu. "Daddy? Daddy! Isn't it?"

"Seiryuu," Rikugo muttered warningly, glaring sideways at the Blue Dragon. Seiryuu frowned and glared right back. Rikugo sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, _how_ long ago was it that you and Hisoka fought? Nearly a year and a half! _Do_ get over it, you insufferable a—s."

"Rikugo said a bad word!" Tenko crowed, hopping out of Kijin's arms.

"Rikugo had the grounds to say it in," Touda muttered.

"Don't you _dare_ approve of using foul language around a child!" Suzaku snapped at him, letting go of Tsuzuki.

"Temper, temper," Touda taunted.

"You little…"

"What did you just say about language, Suzaku-_imotou_?"

Taking advantage of the temporary distraction, Byakko charged and flattened his target.

"Excuse me for interrupting your little hormone-fest," a chilly voice said over the din, "but I do believe you have forgotten why we are here." Taimou's cape fluttered in the wind as she floated across the floor to put her hand on Tsuzuki's shoulder. "Has it slipped your mind that our employer just announced his engagement?"

"Byakko, I really can't breathe," Hisoka wheezed from underneath the White Tiger.

Byakko was deaf to his pleas, however. "Yeah! Tsuzuki's gonna have a wedding! I love weddings! Drinks all around!"

Hisoka, winded, crushed, gave two groans of pain as Byakko clambered off him and rushed away in search of intoxicating beverages.

"_I_ think it's great!" Tenko, frustrated at her father's lack of compliance, said omnisciently, and ran over to Tsuzuki's feet.

"Thanks, Tenko," Tsuzuki said warmly, lifting the 7-year-old Shikigami into his arms and nuzzling her cheek with his nose. "I think it's great, too."

"Yeah…same here," Hisoka said, sitting up straight despite feeling like Byakko had cracked several of his ribs.

Rikugo went forward to help Hisoka up by offering a hand and pulling him to his feet. Once properly steadied, Rikugo sandwiched both of Hisoka's hands in between his own and shook all four hands up and down. "Ditto to that," he offered, smiling amicably. "I'm sure I speak for, well, _most_ of us here when we say we are very happy for you two."

"He's speaking for me," Kijin proffered, giving his father an exasperated look.

"And me," Kouchin said, smiling

"As for those not here…well, Byakko speaks for himself."

"That he does," Taimou said from within her cloak, sounding amused.

The building creaked a loud, resounding _rrrr_ sound.

"I suppose that means Tenku is happy, too," Tsuzuki said, with a sweat drop.

"What are your plans?" Kouchin asked. "Are you having a wedding? Where? When? Are we part of it?"

"Well, I don't kn-…" Tsuzuki suddenly felt Hisoka's eyes boring a hole in the back of his head "…want to reveal all our plans just now," he quickly amended. "But yes, we _are_ having a…_small_ ceremony, and since you're all my Shiki, I want you to be guests."

"Ohh…we love you, Tsuzuki," Suzaku said, putting her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. Tsuzuki hugged her with one arm about her waist, the other arm still supporting Tenko.

Kouchin clapped her hands together, the light bulb turning on in her head. "Why don't you have the ceremony here, inside Tenku?"

"In Kansei?" Tsuzuki questioned.

"Why not? We won't have to concentrate on keeping our human forms, and it's appropriate."

"Huh…that's not a bad idea…in fact, it's a great idea! Hisoka, why don't we…"

Tsuzuki was cut off as Byakko jumped on Hisoka from behind, not quite managing to send Hisoka to the floor but upsetting his balance.

"We'll talk about it," Tsuzuki promised.

"We'll talk about what?" Hisoka asked, struggling to break Byakko's grasp.

"Um…" Tsuzuki sensed Hisoka wouldn't be very receptive to the idea at the moment. "I'll tell you when we get back to Meifu. Byakko, would you _please_ stop glomping my fiancé…?"

* * *

"Remind me to get a new spine," Hisoka grumbled, stomping away from Tenku.

"Oh, don't be a baby," Tsuzuki teased, pushing Hisoka's head.

"Don't touch me. Go bury yourself."

"_Hisoka_, don't be mean to me," Tsuzuki whined. "It coulda gone a lot a worse."

"How, pray tell?"

"Well…" Tsuzuki reached over Hisoka's shoulder and took his hand, bending a finger up with every point. "Byakko could have actually broken your spine, and Suzaku and Touda could've started fighting again, and Seiryuu could've attacked you _or_ he and Rikugo could have started fighting, and Tenku could have collapsed on himself."

"…Don't touch me. Go bury yourself."

Tsuzuki laughed and hugged Hisoka around the neck, effectively stopping their trek away from the castle. "Well, we're going to go tell Kazusa, and then off to China for Maria and Eileen."

"Wait. After Kazusa, shouldn't we just go to Kumamoto and tell Hijiri?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that! It'll be quicker that way, won't it? I knew there was a reason I kept you around."

"Love you too."

"Of course you do. At least, hopefully."

Hisoka rolled his eyes. "How do we get out of here, again?"

"Like so." A fuda scroll materialized in between Tsuzuki's index and middle fingers. Hisoka watched as the pupils in Tsuzuki's eyes restricted and a stream of words in an ancient, forgotten dialect left his mouth. He threw the fuda down and said in his native, present tongue, "Gatekeepers! _Miko_! Appear and release us!"

A hole tore into the atmosphere of Kansei, and Kotaro and Kojiro appeared on either side of it. Hisoka covered his eyes as the wind kicked up dust particles, and no sooner did his hand rest upon his forehead did he disappear, along with Tsuzuki, through the computer-space continuum back into Meifu.

* * *

"Well, Kojiro _still_ won't ask Natsuko out," Wakaba babbled as she, Hisoka, and Tsuzuki walked up the stairs from the Meifu gates. "I keep telling him, if _Hisoka_ can ask somebody to marry him, than _he_ can certainly ask a girl out for a simple date."

"Um, thanks?" Hisoka muttered.

"Well, to be honest, Hisoka, I would never have expected _you_ to be the one doing the proposing," Wakaba said, frankly but nicely. "Tsuzuki always seemed to be more into a relationship, even before what happened in Kyoto, when you two were still denying everything."

"Just goes to show you can't tell about people, can you?" Tsuzuki asked. "I mean, _my_ first impression of Hisoka was that he was a snot-nosed punk."

"And mine of Tsuzuki was that he was a childish idiot."

"Not a very auspicious start for Meifu's hottest couple," Wakaba said observantly, before squinting her eyes shut and giggling.

"What was _your_ first impression of Terazuma, Wakaba?"

Wakaba's eyes flew open and she blushed furiously at Hisoka's question. "I-I thought he was just a tough loner type. W-why?"

"Just wondering," Hisoka said, shrugging and looking away. Tsuzuki poked him in the back of the neck, as if admonishing him for teasing her.

"TSUZUKI!"

"Oh no," Tsuzuki said, stopping at the top of the stairs. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no. Wakaba, let's go back to Kansei, okay? And stay for the next two months? Is that all right?"

"Tsuzuki, why—?"

"MY LOVE!"

A pair of gloves and a jagged mask came flying in from nowhere and tackled Tsuzuki to the ground, nearly sending him back down the flight of stairs they had just traveled up.

"Count, that's dangerous!" Tsuzuki yelped, feeling his head tilt back and nearly hit the first step.

"My flower! You have been plucked from the garden by someone other than myself! Such a transgression cannot go unheeded!"

"Sorry, Tsuzuki," Yuma's voice said from behind them. "We were hoping Konoe could stave it off for a while, but I guess the Count beat it out of him. Count, Tsuzuki's face is turning red…"

"I never thought it was possible for someone to give Anime sobs," Hisoka muttered, watching the Count bawl his eyes out. He reached down, awkwardly feeling for the Count's invisible body. Catching hold of some fabric, he yanked the Count off of Tsuzuki, hopefully to his feet, and offered a hand to help Tsuzuki up.

"You plucked my flower!" the Count sobbed at Hisoka, pulling off one of his gloves and dabbing his eye with it. "Stole him from my garden right underneath my nose! Oh, the _sorrow_! The _woe_!"

"Oh, the melodrama, oh, the bad acting!" Hisoka mimicked sarcastically under his breath, managing to help Tsuzuki regain his balance. Tsuzuki put his arm around Hisoka's waist defensively, fearing what a distressed Count might do, especially if he had just been sassed by the enemy.

The Count blew his nose very loudly into his glove, and then tossed it away. Having one the Count's hands invisible sent a nervous prickle down Tsuzuki's spine.

"My blooméd rose sits in someone else's vase!" the Count sniffled. He reached out and took Hisoka's chin, staring him in the eye. "Is he as good a gardener as I? Will he tend it as lovingly as I would? Will he make sure the petals never wither or die from extreme heat or cold, as I would? Well? _Will he_? Or shall I have to fight to win back my rose?"

"I've known Tsuzuki for four years," Hisoka said plainly, almost fiercely, not breaking eye contact with the Count. "And I have always been straight with him. If he's being an idiot, I'm going to tell him. If he's being annoying, I'm going to rebuke him. But I will _never_ allow him to suffer by himself as he's been suffering for years. I will _never_ allow him to get so low as to try and kill himself again. And I will especially _never_ allow him to be taken away from me again, by you, or by that b—d Muraki, or by _anyone_ else."

The Count's eye slits narrowed, and Hisoka glared right back. The stalemate pressed on for seconds that seemed like hours.

"Well, that's that. I suppose I'll have to give him up, then."

A very loud whoosh of air left every other mouth in the room as the Count turned away, shrugging his shoulders, elbows bent so his hands stuck out to the side.

"You're just going to give up?" Yuma gasped. Stories of the Count's ardor had made it all the way up to Hokkaido. Seeing the Count go down with only one statement from Hisoka…was that possible?

"Well, far be it from me to break up an engagement!" the Count said breezily. "What kind of tacky boor do you take me to be, Fukiya-_san_? I am a _true_ aristocrat, and if _I_ can't make my love happy, I will give my blessing to the person who _does_! I will hold my head high and carry on! However." An evil gleam glinted off his mask as he turned to face Hisoka again. "What you have told me, Kurosaki Hisoka, is a binding oral contract. Fukiya-_san_, Kannuki-_san_, and our dear Tsuzuki bear witness to it. If you break any of those promises and I hear of it, well…I dasn't speak of the consequences in mixed company."

"If I break any of those promises, _I _will punish myself," Hisoka said.

"Good, good, that it just what I wanted to hear," the Count said approvingly. "Oh, and Kurosaki? I wonder if I might have you in a private meeting later on? As I understand it from Konoe, you will be quite busy today spreading the good news, so tomorrow, or the day after, perhaps?"

"What do you want him for?" Tsuzuki asked protectively, pulling Hisoka even tighter against him.

"Office gossip, as reported by my faithful Watson, is that Kurosaki has exceptional spirit power, but doesn't quite have the proper channel for it. Am I mistaken?"

Hisoka glared but said nothing.

"There are a few areas of study in spiritual magic not taught at Juohcho. I merely wondered if Kurosaki might be interested in them. They are _extremely_ powerful and may make up for Kurosaki not having his own Shikigami."

Hisoka felt something stab him in the head. 'The a—shole's enjoying this…"

"And in any case, it may help Kurosaki uphold his vow of protecting Tsuzuki from being snatched away. If I can aid his oaths in any way, I certainly shall."

"The day after tomorrow, then," Hisoka said through clenched teeth, wanting nothing more than to sock the Count in the face.

"Very good then!" The Count clapped his hands in triumph. "I'll away to my castle and allow the two lovers to spread their joyous news!"

Delicately picking up his soiled glove, he fulfilled his words and hasted away.

"That man is insane," Hisoka deadpanned matter-of-factly.

"At least he won't try to molest me anymore," Tsuzuki said, as if he had just dropped an enormous weight from his shoulders.

"Hopefully," Yuma corrected, and Hisoka felt Tsuzuki tense up again.

"Let's get out of here," Hisoka said quickly. "We have a lot of people to tell."

"We'll go find Tsubaki so she can go to Hong Kong with us," Tsuzuki said. "And we should bring Kazusa to Kumamoto with us. I bet she wants to see Hijiri, too…"

* * *

"Tatsumi?"

"Hmm?" Tatsumi looked up from where he was shuffling a pile of papers. "Oh, Watari. What brings you here?"

"I was wondering if you were okay," Watari asked.

"Is that why you've been following me for the last half hour?"

Watari was decent enough to look embarrassed. "You noticed?"

"I was actually wondering how long my patience would hold out."

"Oh. Well…um. Well. You never answered my question. Are you okay?"

"With what?"

"Don't play that game, Tatsumi. Are you really okay with Tsuzuki and Bon getting married?"

"There's no reason why I shouldn't be."

"Give me a straight answer, Tatsumi. Are. You. Okay."

"I am perfectly fine with Tsuzuki and Kurosaki-_kun_ getting married," Tatsumi said, making a point to look exasperated. "To be honest, I knew this day would probably come."

"Then why are you acting so anti-social?"

Tatsumi sighed. "Watari, I really can't give you the answer you're looking for."

"What answer am I looking for?"

"You want me to say that I'm jealous of Kurosaki-_kun_ for being able to hang on to Tsuzuki."

"Well, that's what I think the answer is," Watari allowed, "but if it's not the answer, I want to know what is."

"And you are so ardent about this, because…?"

"Well, as much as we banter and bicker I hope we consider ourselves friends, and if one of my friends feels like c—p, I want to make sure he feels better. And the way to get rid of a problem is to get to the root of it."

"Aren't you quite the social scientist." Tatsumi adjusted his glasses. "Watari, I can't tell you anything when _I'm_ not sure about anything, now can I? Am I jealous of Kurosaki-_kun_ getting married to my old partner? I don't know. It may be an entirely different issue. But I really can't think with you throwing questions at me. So would you please just leave me alone for a bit?"

"B—hy much?" Watari snorted. "Fine, Tatsumi. I'll leave you for a bit."

"Thank you." Tatsumi turned back to his papers and began flipping through them. Watari noted how painfully obvious it was that he was pretending to look for a document that they both knew he did not need.

* * *

Well, I've decided to stop it here, mainly because I'm out of ideas, writing everyone else's reactions would get boring, and I'm _desperate_ to get to the angst.

In all honesty, this chapter turned out quite differently from what it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be: 1) The Kansei scenes. 2) Tatsumi and Watari. 3) Hisoka and Tsuzuki leave to tell everyone else. 4) They return for the Count's scene. But I'm generally happy with how it turned out, though the ending Tatsumi and Watari scene could have gone better if I just had the idea for it.

Usually I hate writing after-chapter AUs asking for reviews, but…when my hit count says 469 and my review box says 11…one gets a little desperate. Please?


	4. The Weight of Being

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yami No Matsuei

**Background Information #1:** Okay, so I had to make up how Ruka died. Here's the basic idea: Ruka was attacked and killed by demons. Tsuzuki saw the demons hovering over her murdered body. His supernatural powers took over his body and he slaughtered the demons. Upon returning to normal state he saw the carnage he had created and promptly went insane. (There are more details, but they'll reveal themselves as necessary). Hisoka knows these basic facts.

**Background Information #2:** In regards to Saki, I'm using the manga plot line.

**Shout-outs:**

Yami Chikara: Hee, I thought you'd like it! Thank you very much.

Kiko812: Thanks! I really tried to see Hisoka as a Libra. But it just didn't work. Oh, and the Name-Number thing is the Character Number, which is what I used to have a vague idea of Taimou and Kouchin's personalities. With characters who have a defined personality, I use the Star Sign to get a broad idea of when they should have been born, and then the Tree Sign to get a set of dates. Then I pick a Life Path number that fits the character, and then use the dates to find which particular day adds up to that Life Path number. (I.e. I picked Tsuzuki to be Life Path 9, so I went through all the dates in his Tree Sign and found which one added up to 9. BTW, I'm using 1899 as his birth year, because that's what I initially thought it was, and I have a logical explanation as to why 1899 IS his birth year. Tsuzuki died at age 26 in 1926, right? Well, according to Muraki Yukitaka's records, he committed suicide in January. His birthday isn't until later in the year. Therefore, if he was 26 at his death, he would have been turning 27 that year. 1926 minus 27 is 1899. Bwahaha I have beat the system. Anyway, back to astrology.) With characters who don't have set personalities, I start with the Character Number, and then go through the above steps. I got all my information from (remove the spaces)

h t t p / c a l l i s t a z m . t r i p o d . c o m / a s t r o f i l e s / s i g n s . h t m l.

If you wanna check it out, it's a great site!

December Jewel: Thank you!

jennamarie: Don't wake babies on my account! (Smile) Well, this chapter starts with fluffy humor and turns completely around into angst.

LucreziaB: Thank you! I'm actually rather satisfied with the Big Announcement scene, which is a huge deal for me. The face changes in slow motion…that must have been very funny to imagine! Oh, and I love Tatsumi, too. In fact I almost, maybe, not really but sort of, never write or read but sometimes squeal over Tatsumi/Tsuzuki. Tatsumi will have his own issues to deal with, but I like the place where he's headed. Hopefully you will, too!

Kaoru-Uesugi138: Really? Oh, but I'm _nothing_ compared to Whispers of a Ghost, Evil Asian Genius, and Snowdancer when it comes to YnM fanfiction. But thanks for the compliment! It really means a lot. By the way, your name implies you like Rurouni Kenshin and Gravitation. Excellent serials, both. Do you?

happygreendragon: Of course Hisoka beat the Count! Tsuzuki/Hisoka ALWAYS prevails! And comparing Tsuzuki to a rose…doesn't that seem like something the Count would do?

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: Isn't that usually called "OOC"? I kid, I kid. (Smile) Well, we're taking characters and putting them into an entirely different situation (with a dash of humor), so I guess they'd be a bit manic. For example, Tsuzuki and Hisoka act different here than in, say, the manga, because here I'm making them an official couple, while in the manga Matsuhsita-_sensei_ is still tormenting me with her "They're totally in love but not really!" vibe. But I guess every fanfiction author does that to some degree. I'm really glad you find it enjoyable! As for the bad words…at the risk of sounding young, I _do_ share a computer with my parents, and I don't trust them not to go snooping.

Masami-chan: Thank you! And yes, Tsuzuki and Hisoka have the best _shounen ai_ ever. I'd say their only competition is Raenef V/Eclipse from Demon Diary, and maybe Yuki/Haru (as children) from Fruits Basket.

Genderless: Thank you! Awesome name, by the way.

Lynn: You use the term "blatantly plagiarize" in a lot of your reviews, did you know that? (Smile) Watari and Whor—I mean Oriya (wink) called Hisoka "Bon" because it means "Kid". Not in the literal sense (the Japanese word for child/children is "kodomo"); it's just a term for someone younger. Muraki calls him "Bouya", which also means "Kid", but I'm guessing it has some negative connotations with it, since this is Muraki we're talking about. (BTW, inferno equals cold!)

Ola: Here it is!

Celendiar: Thank you! Tatsumi/Watari is actually very hard to write, because I see them as a fanon ship, given that they fight a lot in canon. But Tsusoka is adorable, duh. (Incidentally, Tsusoka is one of two combined names that I can stand. The other is Spulia—Spkie/Julia from Cowboy Bebop. 'Cause I made that one up).

**Side Note #1: **I found this really great Hisoka/Tsuzuki quote today (2/7/06): "I wanted you from the first I saw you—but I loved you when you wept in my arms and let me comfort you." It really reminds me of them. I totally see Tsuzuki and Hisoka crushing on each other in the first two DVDs. It's kind of "duh", to me at least. But the two best moments, the ones that really defined their relationship to me, were when Tsuzuki holds Hisoka after Tsubaki died, and in Touda's flames when they're hugging and crying together while "A Meeting of Fate" plays in the background (Best…song…EVER! I will love Francesca forever for giving me the YnM soundtrack for Christmas!). I totally made an avatar with that quote on it. Yay.

**Side Note #2:** I have absolutely NO clue what hospitals are in Kyushu.

**Side Note #3:** Having a green face means that you're jealous. Wearing green on Thursday is a sign that you're gay.

**Side Note #4:** I did some color symbolism tests on Tsuzuki and Hisoka, and found that the former was most compatible with the color Pink (hee-hee-hee), and the latter most compatible with the color Red. Unfortunately, Matsushita-_sensei_ listed their favorites colors as Green (hee-hee-hee) and Blue, respectively…

* * *

The Weight of Being

* * *

Buzzes usually don't last long. And everyone had had the night to get used to the idea of their engagement.

At least, that was what Hisoka kept telling himself over and over in his head.

No one was going to tackle-hug him. He was sure of it.

Still, his insides couldn't help but give a little twitch when he heard someone calling their names. Thankfully, the owner of the voice was just Konoe calling them into his office for a Summons order.

"The soul in question belongs to one Tsukiori Ukyo," Konoe informed them. "According to the Hall of Candles, she's been bedridden for about 18 years. Her candle was due to go out three days ago, but it obviously has not."

"So, someone is keeping her spirit from leaving," Hisoka said logically.

"That might be it. I'd lay odds that it is. However, Tsukiori, in life, practiced spirit magic. It appears that she was quite adept at it, too. She is also reported to have associated with other magic users. She may be keeping her soul with the help of someone else. If that's the case, you may have to…erm…_convince_ the person to let her go."

"Spirit magic, eh?" Tsuzuki said. "I hope this doesn't turn into some kind of battle in the middle of a public place."

"Wouldn't be the first time, and probably wouldn't be the last," Hisoka said listlessly.

"Well, we haven't had a lot of battles lately," Tsuzuki pointed out. "Not since the good doctor disappeared. Though that's not to say I'm ungrateful for it…"

"Ditto."

"Earth to you two."

"Oh, sorry," Hisoka said, returning his attention to Konoe. "Where can we find her soul?"

"Nagasaki General Hospital. You know the drill. Get her soul in Meifu ASAP."

"On it," Hisoka said, rising and pulling the folder into his hands.

"Oh, and I never got the chance to properly congratulate you two," Konoe said, as Tsuzuki pushed back his own chair and stood.

"Yeah, the office was a bit…manic yesterday," Tsuzuki said apologetically.

"Well, you can't blame them, they all love you," Konoe said. "This Tsukiori Ukyo, her file says that she has a fiancé who's skilled in magic, too. Who knows, it might be him keeping her soul from coming to Meifu."

"That's nothing new," Tsuzuki said. Hisoka could sense a bit of wavering in Tsuzuki's resolve. Forcing someone away from loved ones was especially hard for him.

"Come on, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said, reaching for his partner's arm and imperceptibly sliding his hand into Tsuzuki's. "Let's get this over with. The sooner the better, okay?" He gave Tsuzuki's hand a tug and pulled him out of the doorway, both of them muttering their good-byes to Konoe.

"I hate breaking up fiancés," Tsuzuki said fiercely, suddenly, once they were safely outside the office.

"I'm not particularly fond of it, either, Tsuzuki."

"I wasn't even dead the first time I did it."

That made Hisoka stop in his tracks. "What?"

Tsuzuki shook his head and continued walking.

"Tsuzuki, you don't seriously expect me to forget that you just said you broke up an engaged couple while you were still alive."

"Hisoka, not now, okay?"

"Well, if not now, when?"

"When this job is over. I don't even know why I said that; if I think about it now I won't be able to go through with this. Let's just get this over with." He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked on as if his life depended on it. Hisoka could see his fists clenching against the fabric.

"All right. Fine," Hisoka said coolly, putting his hands in his own pockets and following, keeping his pace decidedly slow so as to not come up directly beside Tsuzuki.

"Don't be upset with me, please, Hisoka?" Tsuzuki turned his head so he could see Hisoka. "I promise you'll know about what happened, but can we just get this job over with first?"

"Fine," Hisoka said, attempting chilliness to let Tsuzuki know what he thought of his keeping secrets. But the small, sad smile Tsuzuki gave him effectively broke the ice, and Hisoka quickened his stride to catch up to him. Tsuzuki removed his hand from his pocket and squished it in beside Hisoka's, and with a sigh of faux exasperation Hisoka took both their hands out and let them dangle at their sides, fingers interlaced.

* * *

"I hate hospitals," Hisoka said.

"I'm not particularly fond of them, either, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said, mimicking their former conversation, completely lacking any hint of humor.

Nagasaki General Hospital was a several-story, imposing, pristinely white building set back in the heart of the city. The inside, complete with bright white lights and sterile, pale green tiling, did not contradict the image the outside posed. It was the sort of hospital that people, both patients and visitors, respected but did not feel distinctly comfortable in.

"Excuse me?"

A nurse power-walking by them almost ignored Tsuzuki's call, but the sense of duty instilled in her by her many years on the job prompted her to never leave a person high and dry. She turned around, irritably pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Yes?"

"We're looking for Tsukiori Ukyo. Would you happen to know which room she's in?"

"Tsukiori?" The nurse frowned. "It's rare she gets visitors outside of her fiancé. Are you family?"

"Cousin," Tsuzuki lied easily. "I've been living abroad."

"Oh," the nurse acknowledged dismissively. "Well, Tsukiori is in Room 355. That's the third floor, of course. It's a private room. Go all the way to the left, turn right, and go all the way down that hall. She has another visitor right now, so I hope you two get along. Visiting hours won't be over for a while. Though, I'll be here for the rest of the day…" she tacked on suggestively, eyeing Tsuzuki. "If you want me."

Annoyed, Hisoka grabbed Tsuzuki's hand pointedly and tugged it. "Come on, _we_ had better go find her," he said petulantly, mixing feigned politeness in his tone and glance. "You get lost in these types of buildings so easily, Tsuzuki." He looked back at the nurse. "Thank you for helping _us_." He dipped his head slightly.

The nurse glanced at their hands and let her eyes linger on them for a few seconds. "It wasn't a problem, sir," she said, giving a small bow of her head and turning away. "Always the good-looking ones…"

Tsuzuki blinked, a little confused at the exchange that had just gone on under his nose and out of his understanding. "Hisoka, what just happened here?"

"That woman was trying to _hit on you_, _that's_ what happened," Hisoka said snappishly.

"Really?" Tsuzuki looked a little embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't notice it."

"Don't play dumb. You've hit on women before." Hisoka began walking away, towards the stairs.

"I have never!" Tsuzuki insisted indignantly, chasing after him.

"Oh, and you were just being _friendly_ with the hostess when we went to Hokkaido on the office trip, right?" He opened the door to the staircase and began climbing them.

"That was literally _years_ ago, Hisoka. Do I detect a hint of jealousy?"

"Shut up."

"Your face is as green as your eyes," Tsuzuki teased, coming up behind him and putting his arm around his shoulders.

"Shut up."

"That nurse is probably checking the calendar, seeing if today's Thursday…"

"Tsuzuki." Hisoka turned around, fixing his partner with an evil eye. "Shut. Up."

"Oh, relax," Tsuzuki said, planting a little kiss on Hisoka's mouth that surprised the younger man into dropping his glare. "I _like_ the color green."

Hisoka turned away. "And the color pink."

"_Hisoka_!"

Seemingly deaf, Hisoka continued to stomp resolutely up the stairs with Tsuzuki plodding after him, muttering complaints that seemed more like ways to needle Hisoka than to truly scold him.

"All right, come on, get serious," Hisoka admonished when they had reached the top of the flight of stairs. "We're on assignment."

"You're such a killjoy," Tsuzuki sighed. "All right, all right, I'll be good."

"That nurse said that Tsukiori had a visitor," Hisoka said, businesslike. "If the visitor is her fiancé—and it probably is—we have a huge problem on our hands. Konoe-_kachou_ said that her fiancé is a magic user, too, and if he's keeping her alive he might attack us."

"So we'll have to either get her soul before he can stop us…"

"Which has two chances of happening: slim and none."

"…or we can fight him in a public place."

"Which isn't the greatest idea."

"Rock…" Tsuzuki said, raising one hand. "Hard place…" He raised the other. "Us." He stuck his head in between his arms.

"Yeah."

"So we'll just have to play it by ear," Tsuzuki said. "Maybe we'll just have to try again later."

"I suppose. This is the room," Hisoka said, stopping. The door was shut, and a glistening dry-erase board sat primly at Tsuzuki's eye-level, reading: "355. Tsukiori Ukyo-_san_".

"Here goes." Tsuzuki reached out his hand and turned the doorknob. The hinges creaked ominously as the door opened.

"Well, hello."

Hisoka's intestines seemed to jump out of his abdomen and lodge into his throat. "No. No, no, no…"

"Tsuzuki-_san_, Bouya, this _is_ a surprise," Muraki deadpanned, his tone contradicting his words. "But I suppose I might have expected my most beloved Shinigami would come after my fiancée."

"_You're_ Tsukiori's fiancé?" Tsuzuki barely managed to spit out.

"Please refer to her as "Ukyo"; she would appreciate familiarity much more," Muraki replied flippantly. "And yes, she _is_ my fiancée."

"Who would want to marry _you_?" Hisoka hissed venomously.

"Well, I _was_ quite different 18 years ago, when I asked her to marry me. One _does_ change between the ages of 18 and 36, you know."

"I wouldn't know," Hisoka muttered icily.

"We're here for Tsukiori's soul, Muraki," Tsuzuki cut in. "She's overreached her life span. Her candle was supposed to go out two days ago."

Muraki chuckled. "You Shinigami and your candles. Do you know how easy it is to snuff or light a candle? I expect Bouya's candle should have burned for much longer than 16 years."

"You…" Hisoka began.

"The brightness or dimness of the flame is what truly matters," Muraki continued as if uninterrupted. "This is where my attraction to you, Tsuzuki-_san_, come from. Your flames, yours and Ukyo's, are twins."

"What are you talking about?" Tsuzuki snarled.

"Ukyo-_koi_." Muraki flicked the fingers of both hands at the sleeping woman in the bed beside where he sat in a revolving chair. "Open your eyes."

Tsuzuki and Hisoka stared as if spellbound at the thin, pale lady as she roused from her sleep. Her delicate porcelain face stirred, and a small "mmm" sound escaped her lips through the breathing tube attached to her face. The veined butterfly lids of her eyes flicked and then opened.

Tsuzuki's eyes widened. The breath caught in his throat. Blindly he clawed the air with his fingers and hooked on to Hisoka's sleeve for support.

Staring out from her sunken sockets was a pair of vivid, dark violet eyes.

"After the carnage of the American Civil War," Muraki began, as if giving a history lecture to bored, distracted students, "many demons thought the world was susceptible to demonic reign. After waiting x amount of years to make sure, in 1899 one of them decided to release his seed into Chijou by possessing a married man attempting to procreate with his wife. That seed, of course, was you. Your eyes are the mark of your heritage."

Muraki flicked his hair out of his eyes, unfazed by the increasingly pallid face of his audience. "However, you did not do as you were supposed to. You were too influenced by your human family. That, of course, didn't please your father, and he sent two demons to awaken your power by killing your psuedo-sister. Unfortunately for them, the plan backfired. Instead of realizing your hellish heritage, you killed the demons and promptly went insane."

Sweat was running down Tsuzuki's face and dampening his palms. "You're a liar," he accused unconvincingly, his voice a quiet whimper.

"Suffice it to say, the demon who spawned you was none too happy with _that_," Muraki continued calmly. "I suppose he thought humanity was not yet ready for his dark reign. It took several more wars for him to try again. This time his seed yielded a daughter to the Tsukiori family. She, too, proved that nurture triumphed over nature."

He picked up Ukyo's anorexic-like hand as if showing off how her bones and vein protruded into her skin. "Now, I'd wager you're curious as to how she wound up in this state. This is where my dear stepbrother comes into play."

"Enough," Hisoka demanded, loudly and clearly, as he felt Tsuzuki's grip on his arm tighten with every passing second. "We're here for Tsukiori's soul, not to listen to your bulls—t. Get out of the way."

"Oh, but I'm sure Tsuzuki-_san_ wants to know," Muraki offered conversationally. "Surely he deserves to, at least. This woman _is_ his sister, after all."

"I only have one sister, and she's dead," Tsuzuki whispered, so soft that Hisoka could only hear him through his empathy.

"And besides, my dear stepbrother Saki, through his mother, was the descendant of the demons Tsuzuki-_san_ killed in 1917, when he saw how they mutilated Tsuzuki Ruka-_san_. Needless to say, Tsuzuki-_san_, your father made some enemies, what with his son killing demons that had previously been his allies. But since said son was already dead, Saki turned his vengeance first on the father, killing him, and Ukyo, nearly killing her. My faithful butler managed to murder Saki before he could deliver the fatal spell, but it appears that he cursed her so badly that she has been dying, ever so slowly, since. The doctors don't quite know what is wrong with her or how to help her. Rather like with you, Bouya." Muraki drew a cigarette from he pack in his pocket and lit it with a lighter he held in his other one. "Quite the tragedy, isn't it. The culture of us demons is certainly barbaric."

"_You're_ a demon, too?" Hisoka gasped.

"You _are_ slow, aren't you, Bouya?" Muraki stated dully. "Not many humans can become as skilled in magic as I am. Unlike Tsuzuki-_san_, Ukyo, Saki, and I were all very well aware of our birthrights as creatures of Hell. Also unlike Tsuzuki-_san_, it bothered us naught. How did I put it? Ah, yes, being "a monster with the blood of a demon" never affected us quite as much as it affects Tsuzuki-_san_.

"You…"

Hisoka was cut off as Tsuzuki suddenly let go of his arm and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. A very pregnant silence reigned over the room, broken only by the shallow, laborious breathing of Ukyo.

"Well, that's the story," Muraki finished casually, taking a drag. "Amazing what a bit of research, critical thinking, and a braggart yet knowledgeable stepbrother will reveal."

Hisoka could only stare. A thousand different thoughts and insults were flying in his head but all of them seemed to jam in his brain before they could make it to his mouth. His mouth opened and closed like a beached fish's as he stared at the man who had violated him in so many, innumerable ways over the past seven years.

"Why…" he managed to breathe out. "Why did you…why did you tell him all that? You are _never_ going to have Tsuzuki," he suddenly spat. "I'll _never_ let you torture him into giving up again. Never, you hear me? Never!"

"Bouya, you're such a child, throwing a tantrum like that," Muraki said disinterestedly. "That fire effectively destroyed what was left of Saki's body. I am no longer in need of Tsuzuki-_san_. At least, not for that purpose."

Hisoka's head was suddenly jarred with Muraki's purposefully disgusting, lewd thoughts. "H-how can you? With your fiancée right in the room?"

"Well, Ukyo is rather incapacitated right now," Muraki said, giving Hisoka a "duh" look. "And besides, Ukyo has never minded any…hmm, how shall I say…objects of my attention. She cares very little about bodies, because she knows how very little bodies mean. At the risk of sounding—"

"Human?" Hisoka snorted.

"—hopelessly romantic, she would rather have my heart than my body. Especially since her own body can barely stand any physical contact at the moment."

It took a moment for Hisoka to notice that Muraki had taken Ukyo's dead leaf of a hand in his own again.

"What's keeping her alive?" Hisoka asked, staring at the ashen, grainy face of the dying woman.

"The brightness of her flame."

"That brightness is withering," Hisoka said, surprising himself with the gentleness of his voice. "She's suffering, Muraki. Look at her."

"I'm well aware of her state, Bouya," Muraki said, and the vision of the emaciated, cracked China doll of a lady lying helplessly in the bed reflected in Muraki's remaining biological eye.

"You can kill her," Hisoka said, a statement and a suggestion. "You can kill her now, and quickly. You could just pull out that plug and it'll be over with."

Muraki chuckled again. "You're not very subtle, Bouya. I can see right through you. You want to get the Summons done and to see me suffer."

"I wouldn't mind accomplishing either of those," Hisoka said frankly, honestly. "But I suffered for only 3 years. _She_ has for 18. Do you know how much I wanted someone to put me out of my misery after a month with that curse? Not that you would care in my case, but your own fiancée…"

"Quite the hypocrite. You wouldn't let Tsuzuki-_san_ euthanize himself."

"Tsuzuki was crazy," Hisoka stated plainly. "Because of you, he thought he caused people's deaths. Ukyo has no such false guilt. This is an entirely different situation."

"Not quite," Muraki countered. "You loved Tsuzuki-_san_ too much to let him go, didn't you? It is that exact selfishness that keeps Ukyo from leaving the world of the living."

Hisoka stared at Muraki, wondering how his tormentor and executioner could seem so weak and so unequivocally human.

"You yourself said it's easy to snuff a candle," Hisoka said steadily. "It can die slowly or it can be put out instantly. If it's her brightness keeping her alive, then your darkness can kill her."

"_You_ aren't going to attempt to kill her, Bouya?"

"I'm doing you the goodness of letting you chose what to do with her," Hisoka replied, hardly believing what words were coming out of his mouth. "I don't want to battle you now; I have to go find Tsuzuki. And anyway, you _like_ to play God, don't you?"

Hisoka turned away quickly, but remembered something and turned his head back. "You never answered my question."

"What was that, Bouya?"

"Why did you tell Tsuzuki all that?"

"He destroyed my chance at revenge on Saki. I wanted him to suffer for that."

"You're sick." But Hisoka's voice betrayed no surprise.

"It is in my nature to care selectively," Muraki explained away. "Demons do not understand abstract concepts like the equality of human value."

Hisoka made a noise in his throat. "Funny. For a minute there, you were almost human. But I guess not everyone can do what Tsuzuki and Ukyo did. Me, I pity her for having the misfortune of falling for you. But then, I pity you for yourself."

"Pity?" Muraki faked a chuckle. "What an odd thing for you to feel for me."

"You think so? Well, that just reinforces it."

Hisoka turned his head away and took hold of the door handle. His insides were shaking though his hand remained steady as he pulled open the door, stepped out into the hallway, and shut it behind him.

"_One day, I'll exceed him."_

"_Yeah…I'm sure we can do it, with the two of us."_

"Tsuzuki." Hisoka dropped his barriers and cast his mind about, searching for Tsuzuki's spiritual trace. It was going back the way they had come. It was stopping…it was sitting in the stairway…

Hisoka quickly teleported from the hallway and into the stairs, just a few steps above where Tsuzuki was hunched over, staring at a combination of the floor and his hands. Resolutely Hisoka walked down to him and sat beside him. He folded his hands in front of himself and looked at the ceiling.

"I'm letting Muraki decide to pull the plug or not," Hisoka informed his partner. "It's his turn to struggle with something like that."

"Mm."

"He told you all that to "punish" you for stopping his revenge on Saki. You would do well to remember it's only in his warped mind that you deserve to be "punished" for that."

"Mm."

"Tsuzuki."

"Yeah?" Tsuzuki asked, his voice tight and strangled.

Hisoka took Tsuzuki's head, one hand on each side, and pulled his face around so they were looking at each other eye-to-eye.

"I don't care. And neither should you."

Tsuzuki's breathing seemed very controlled, but Hisoka could feel that his mind was not. _"A monster with the blood of a demon…"_

"I grew up being called "monster", Tsuzuki," Hisoka said, his voice and gaze unwavering. "I never believed it. I _felt_ too much to be an apathetic monster from the old stories. You care 10 times more than me about any random given thing. So, even if you were born a demon, that does not make you a monster." He took a breath. "You and Muraki are both demons. I left a _monster_ in room 355. I'm sitting next to, and engaged to, and in love with, a _human_. So don't even _think_ about beating yourself up about this, or I'll beat you up myself. Clear?"

Tsuzuki bowed his head in Hisoka's grasp, the corners of his mouth tilted up in a humoring, fake smile. Hisoka pulled Tsuzuki's head into his own collarbone and wrapped his arms around Tsuzuki's skull, holding him in place as his breathing pattern gradually turned from controlled to shuddering and finally to steady.

* * *

"Kurosaki-_kun_, something odd happened."

"What, Tatsumi-_san_?" Hisoka looked up from his desk. It had been dark by the time they returned to Meifu and Hisoka had sent Tsuzuki home, insistent that he do the paperwork himself. It was odd for Hisoka to admit that he had been glad to see Tsuzuki's usual smiling expression at the prospect of skipping out on work. But if it meant Tsuzuki was returning to normal…

"That woman you and Tsuzuki were supposed to bring in. Tsukiori Ukyo?"

"What about her?"

"She got here before you two returned. The Gushoshin escorted her over to the Judiciary Department and she's passed on to Heaven already."

Hisoka's eyes widened. He looked down at his paperwork. As if in a dream he scratched out a few lines with his pen and began writing over them.

"Wel, d—n," he breathed to himself. "The b—d's got some human in him after all."


	5. Setting The Stage

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yami No Matsuei

**Additional Characters:** Chizuru, Rika

**Additional Pairings:** Chizuru/Ruka

**Background Information #1:** Chizuru eventually told Rika that she's a Shinigami.

**Shout-outs:**

Ola: Yep, it's the former. I told you, Muraki hinges on Ukyo's appearance. He's just going to disappear after this. Rather than any plot point, I wanted the meeting with Muraki to contribute to Tsuzuki's and Hisoka's emotional turmoil/growth, which is my favorite thing to do with fanfiction, and characters in general. As I said, this is a lot fluff/angst with very little plot.

Kiko812: I'm so glad you loved the ending. That chapter wasn't easy for me to write, especially in the beginning, because I felt the opening scene and the very last scene were too rushed. On Muraki acting human…well, everyone's got _some_ redeeming quality about him/her, at least, that's what I'd like to believe. But I had to reconcile Muraki being, well, Muraki with his being in love with someone. I really hope I pulled it off with the comparison between humans and demons.

That website really helped me out a lot. It tells you everything you need to know about Star Signs, Life Paths, Character Numbers, Heart's Desire Numbers, Birthdate Numbers, _everything_ except Tree Signs. Tree Signs are part of Celtic mythology, and they work rather like Star Signs, except they have a limited number of days. I got the info from an E-mail, so you'll have to yahoo or google "Tree Signs" if you want more information on it, 'cause it's not on callistazm (Stab). Trust me, even if you don't believe in real-life astrology (I don't), it's really fun to make up birthdays for characters, and by using Star Signs—Tree Signs—Life Paths, you can get really amazing and accurate results!

December Jewel: Well, for some people, he does.

jennamarie: "angst monkey"? Interesting term. I think I'll be using that in my every day speech from now on. (Envisions what will happen if I say that Holden from Catcher In The Rye is an angst monkey to my English teacher…)

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: I think that's the most enthusiastic review I've ever gotten in my life. (Bows) Thanks you very much. This chapter definitely has its angst, but it's tempered by fluff, filler, and even the introduction of a plot device (which is something I'm not very good at). But, there is, as you put it, "majorly angsty drama" due in chapter 7, and it's even _worse_ than last chapter. (I actually _planned_ this story. That made Lynn, my update muse, very, very shocked.)

Celendiar: Oh, believe me, I wouldn't mind if Muraki took a long walk off a short cliff. I simply like my version of Muraki best. He's a demon and he knows it, and he holds contempt for ideals such as the value of humans, seeing them as dolls. But then, he _did_ have a long-term relationship with a woman and if he loved her enough I suppose he would end her suffering. And thank you very much for your compliments on my characterization of Tsuzuki and Hisoka. With such a lover-ly pairing, how could I give them bad characterizations?

Lynn: Remember, we live in a world where Muraki + Inferno Cold. Beside, o ye who hath never read the manga, in volume 8 Muraki practically makes a declaration of love with this dialogue: "Ukyo! Forgive me, please…I…wasn't able to save you. I couldn't do anything for you. Farewell, Ukyo…I pray…for your happiness. I must leave you behind. Please…forgive me." If that's not a display of human emotions, I don't know what is.

**Side Note #1:** I'm so amazed at the popularity of this story, especially since Yami no Matsuei fanfiction doesn't get a lot of traffic. At the moment I'm writing this (2: 48 PM on 2/12/06), Second Death is 1st place among my stories for Hits (900) and Alerts (11), 5th place for reviews (27), and 6th place for Faves (7). Thank you all! At the end of this chapter, I'll update my Stats.

**Side Note #2:** Since I am not Japanese and my research has yielded almost nothing, Tsuzuki and Hisoka may refer to traditions/terms/customs based on a Western wedding. However, I did manage to find out a few things about Japanese (present and Meiji era) weddings. Here are a few customs:

Breaking of bread over the bride's head by the groom. This is supposed to show his mastery over her. (GrumbleGrumbleSexistGrumble)

_San-san-kudo_, the sake ceremony. This is a traditional Shinto practice. In this ceremony, the _miko_ ("shrine maiden", a la Wakaba) presents the couple with three cups of sake, one small, one medium, and one large. The groom begins with the little one. He touches the rim to his lips three times, then drinks. He passes it off to the bride, who does the same. They repeat the process with the medium-sized cup, but the bride begins this one. Then it happens again with the large one, the groom leading again. There is a blessing said before partaking of each one. The first blessing thanks the family for rearing them in the correct way. The second one swears to never shirk their marital duties. The third wishes for a happy home filled with children.

**Side Note #3:** The bomb in 1945, of course, refers to the dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You can pick whichever city you want them to be referring to.

**Side Note #4:** "Gack" is my word for "steal".

**Side Note #5:** This chapter is extremely long! Read when you have a lot of free time!

* * *

Setting The Stage

* * *

It had come as a surprise to Hisoka that Shinigami had regular days off. He wouldn't have thought that Konoe or Tatsumi (Tatsumi especially) would allow for it. Given, it was only one day off, but if you gauged Tsuzuki's reaction, the Sundays they did not have to go to work were as revered by the Shinigami in a secular sense as devoted believers revered them in a religious sense.

Unfortunately, having the Sunday off meant that Hisoka had the opportunity to visit the Hall of Candles and begin training in the special kind of magic the Count had offered.

An opportunity that Hisoka was not really looking forward to.

"You don't _have_ to go," Tsuzuki reminded Hisoka, as he watched his fiancé pulled on his trademark jean jacket from his position on the bed. "It's not _mandatory_, you know."

"If I don't, the Count will never let me hear the end of it," Hisoka said pragmatically, turning around from the closet where he kept most of his clothes, as opposed to the dresser where Tsuzuki stored his. "Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, the pervert has a point. I _do_ have spiritual powers and I _don't_ have the right channel for them. I might actually find something that'll solve that problem at the Hall."

"Is there any real reason you want the proper channel for them? I mean, you've been a Shinigami for four years. It's not like you can't hold your own."

"It's nothing specific. I'm just sick of being weak."

"_Hisoka_," Tsuzuki said, exasperated. He sat up and pulled Hisoka into a sitting position on the mattress. "You are _not_ weak."

"Fine then, I'm sick of being _weaker_ than you."

Tsuzuki nuzzled his head into Hisoka's side, and then sighed as he lay back down. He wrapped his arms around Hisoka's waist to prevent him from rising.

"I'm sensing there's some other, more selfish reason for why you don't want me to go…?"

"It's our day off and you're warm," Tsuzuki whined. "We should be sleeping in."

"Sloth," Hisoka insulted.

"Mm." He held onto Hisoka tighter. "And proud."

"Let go, you're getting my clothes wrinkled."

"They're jeans."

"Fine, then, you're making me late."

"Don't care."

"You'll care if the Count puts up a fuss about it, won't you?"

That seemed to have an affect, as Tsuzuki loosened his grip, though he still didn't let him go completely. "Cheater."

"I tell it like it is."

Tsuzuki moved form his side onto his back. "How long are you going to be there?"

"Don't know. I'll keep it as short as I can."

"What mealtime is your ETA?"

"I dunno, an early lunch, I guess."

"Want me to make something for when you get back?"

"I love you too much to let you risk your health and home by attempting to cook."

"Meanie."

"I told you, I tell it like it is."

"Fine. I'll just be lazy and stay in bed all morning."

"You do that."

"Oh, and we haven't been putting much thought into the wedding yet," Tsuzuki said. "Thursday I was too stoked, Friday we told everyone, and yesterday…" he trailed off, frowning.

"Don't think about that if it's going to bother you," Hisoka commanded more than advised. "And when I get home we'll start planning in earnest, I promise."

"Okay."

Hisoka glanced down at Tsuzuki. Sleep last night had been difficult and unsettled for both of them, with Tsuzuki's thoughts set a-scramble with the truth of his birth finally made known to him. Try as he might Hisoka just couldn't put up the emotional shields necessary for sleep, and when he had finally managed to pass into his REM cycle his nightmares had been twins with Tsuzuki's.

"Tsuzuki, I love you," Hisoka said quietly, impulsively.

Tsuzuki smiled, and with that smile Hisoka reaffirmed his belief that Tsuzuki could read thoughts better than he could.

"I love you, too."

Hisoka brushed a strand of hair off Tsuzuki's face and leaned down to kiss him. Tsuzuki's grip returned to its previous tightened hold as he kissed back.

"Come home quick, okay?" Tsuzuki asked.

"ASAP," Hisoka promised. "Now let go of me."

"Nuh-uh."

"Tsuzuki!"

* * *

"Ah, Kurosaki-_san_, welcome to the Hall of Candles." The Count placed a book back on the shelf and turned around to see Hisoka, Watson still holding on to his pant leg by which he had dragged the Shinigami through the hallways. "Please, sit."

Hisoka pulled away from Watson and pulled out a chair at the small round table sitting at the edge of the room. "Thank you."

"You've visited the library before, correct?"

"Yeah, to get Tsuzuki out of the book."

"I must admit, Kurosaki-_san_, that I wasn't expecting you and Tsuzuki-_san_ to come to be," the Count said. "If I had, the role of the Son and the Butler would have been reversed."

"Don't worry about that. By the way, how _did_ that novel finish?"

"Well, I've had to rewrite the ending, based on current events," the Count explained. "And I never give away my endings."

"Hn."

The Count clapped his hands. "But anyway, I imagine keeping you from Tsuzuki-_san_ longer than necessary would be cruel and unusual punishment, so let's away with the small talk and commence with business."

"Oh, um…" Hisoka was caught off guard by the Count's sudden change in topic. "Yes, let's."

"Now, in all honesty, Kurosaki-_san_, I asked you here with a specific type of magic in mind."

"Well, what is it?"

The Count turned back to the shelf and ran his fingers against the spines of several books, muttering their titles under his breath before a triumphant "A-ha!" signified that he had located what he was looking for.

"Kurosaki-_san_, the type of magic I envision for you is called Illusory Magic." The Count went forward to the table, pulled out his own chair, sat, and slid the old, dusty book across the surface towards Hisoka. "It is really a metamorphosis in appearance of the spell caster, to that of another person. Moreover, the change not only affects looks, but also voice and memories."

"How can I use this in the field, Count?"

"Well, I'm sure you've come across souls who need a rather large amount of coaxing to surrender their life in Chijou and come to Meifu for judgment. I imagine that if you had researched that particular soul's past, if you could change into someone who has influence over the soul, it would make the transition from limbo to death that much easier for both the dead one _and_ yourself and Tsuzuki-_san_."

"And why did you envision this for me?"

"I thought it quite suited to your Empathy. You see, Kurosaki-_san,_ Illusory Magic is really channeling another person's spirit, and taking on their looks, voice, memories, everything, while still being able to keep it separate from your own. An illusion of the physical appearance and the sound of the voice are shown to everyone who looks at and hears you. You already have powers of feeling other people's emotions and taking on their memories. Learning Illusory Magic not only accompanies your existing powers quite nicely, but will also help you discipline them. As I understand it, you _have_ been improving when it comes to being among people, but those close to you still need to put up mental barriers, and in large crowds or with strong emotions, you may come over faint, is that right?"

"Yeah," Hisoka said through gritted teeth. "That's right."

"Now, I warn you," the Count said. "Illusory Magic is rather difficult. First of all, you are channeling someone else's spirit. That puts the spirit's body in a hypnotic state. More advanced Illusion-Workers can keep that body in that state, but a beginner can easily lose control, and therefore lose the illusion. Second of all, the sate of having two souls in one body is unnatural. This causes stress on both the host and the spirit. Again, this is something advanced Illusion-Workers can handle, but a beginner must work on. However, since you already _can_ feel other people, I think you may have an easier time beginning this training than if I picked a random human off the street."

Hisoka tapped the book with his finger. "And this is?"

"This book is, shall we say, a workbook. In each page is a portrait of a person the book thinks the Illusion-Worker could handle channeling. The Illusion-Worker sees the portrait and concentrates on trying to channel the person. The pages, of course, change periodically, based on the Illusion-Worker's skill and experience. If you're interested, I would take this with you and practice with it, even when you're not practicing here."

"Practicing here?"

"The Hall of Candles is filled with the life essences of living humans. It will help you become used to having souls around you. Rather like how a Buddhist uses incense to help him or her meditate."

"This all hinges upon whether I agree to practice this magic, remember."

"Oh, I haven't forgotten. There _is_, of course, other magic for you to use. I merely had this one in mind, and I do think it would be advantageous and fitting for you to use."

Hisoka looked to the book and flipped open its pages. With every page he turned the picture appeared to change. Most of the portraits seemed to be of young children or adolescents.

"I'm assuming younger people are easier to channel?" Hisoka asked.

"Difficulty does rise with age. The spirit has more emotional baggage with age, which makes it harder for the Illusion-Worker to handle. Of course, there are young people who are difficult to channel. The "old souls", shall we say. From what I understand, _you_ as a child would have been immensely hard to channel."

Hisoka wasn't sure whether to be complimented or not.

"So, let me get this straight. If I become an Illusion-Worker, I'll be able to channel people's spirits and create an illusion of them to everyone in the outside world."

"Correct."

"And this will help me in field work so I can channel the spirits of the deceased's loved ones, making the transition into death easier where it otherwise might involve much wailing and gnashing of teeth."

"Correct again."

"Sounds useful," Hisoka commented, closing the book. "Query: what if the loved one in question is already dead?"

"Channeling the deceased is slightly different," the Count explained. "The dead can be summoned by an Illusion-Worker no matter if they are in Heaven or Hell. However, a person who has passed on is a spirit sans a body. Therefore the spirit knows if it is being channeled, and has control over it. For the Illusion-Worker, it is more like being possessed than channeling. An Illusion-Worker can only hold on to the form of a dead person so longs as that person complies. Also, channeling the spirit of a dead person requires more concentration to control, since the deceased have a natural, spiritual pull trying to take them back to Heaven or Hell."

"I love how spirits and magic have rules and regulations," Hisoka muttered to himself.

"I would advise you look over that book and attempt channeling someone, Kurosaki-_san_. You never know unless you try, right?"

"I suppose." Hisoka pulled the book into his lap. "Is that all for today?"

"Yes, it wouldn't do to keep you here for long on the first day. Please, return home."

Hisoka rose, pulling the book into his arms. "Thanks. For the book, I mean."

"It wasn't a problem, Kurosaki-_san_. I meant what I said: if it makes Tsuzuki any happier or safer, I will gladly do, or let you do, anything."

* * *

"I fail to see how you could ever have thought nobody loves you."

"Hmm?" Tsuzuki said, slurping some ramen noodles from his chopsticks. "How so?"

"Well, the Count and Tatsumi are both in love with you, to begin with," Hisoka said, "and everyone else around here adores you: Watari, Saya, Yuma, Wakaba, Chizuru, anybody. Terazuma has some respect for you as a sentient being. Plus, you have your Shiki _and_ the people who get involved in our missions, namely Maria, Hijiri, and Rika."

"You left yourself out of that list."

"I thought that I went without saying," Hisoka said, munching some rice off his chopsticks.

"You're unusually affectionate today, Hisoka."

Hisoka tapped the table with his eating utensils. "I hate seeing you depressed."

"Hm-hm," Tsuzuki intoned giddily, resting his chin on his fist. "That's a good sign of a normal, healthy relationship."

"I'd avoid calling our relationship "normal", Tsuzuki."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Well, we're both dead, we're both guys, and we were both mentally, physically, and sexually tortured by the same insane man. Now, "healthy" I could see, in a weird symbiotic kind of way, but definitely not "normal"."

"Symbi-what? Well, normal is boring, anyway."

"Nice save." He poked a piece of paper in front of him with his chopsticks and pushed it towards Tsuzuki. "Okay, first order of business. Where are we having this ceremony?"

"Well, Kouchin put forth the idea of having it inside Tenku, in Kansei…" Tsuzuki wilted at the glare Hisoka shot at him. "Well, at this point, I think it's dangerous to not go along with them, don't you? They're a moody bunch, and if I refuse to have it where they can be their human forms without much concentration, I…"

"Do you want to have it there?"

"Um…yeah." Tsuzuki looked apologetic. "Sorry."

"What're you apologizing for, fool? I told you, _you're_ the bride, and the bride makes the decisions."

"I am not a woman!"

"Really? You're not? Darn."

Tsuzuki cocked an eyebrow at his fiancé. "Who are you, and what have you done with Hisoka? The Hisoka _I_ know would never be this playful. Ow!" Tsuzuki retracted his arm quickly as Hisoka stabbed his hand with his chopsticks. "Okay, you're back."

"Okay, next question. _When_ are we having this? I'm not particularly crazy over the idea of a long engagement. Those vultures at the office would get on my nerves."

"Even more than they already do? Is that even possible?" Hisoka brandished his utensils threateningly. "Okay, okay, I'll be serious. It's May 7th now. How about…late July? Is that enough time?"

"July is fine with me."

"Great, July it is, then."

"Third question. Who all is going to be there?

Tsuzuki pulled a piece of paper towards him and began scribbling names in his hasty, sloppy scrawl. After a minute and a half, he pushed the piece of paper back towards Hisoka.

* * *

Wakaba and Terazuma (She'll probably bring him as her date, and besides, he gets along with you)

Tatsumi

Watari

Konoe

Gushoshin I and Gushoshin II

Saya and Yuma

Tsubaki and Eileen

Suzaku

Touda

Byakko

Genbu

Seiryuu, Kijin, and Tenko (Seiryuu's wife died some time ago)

Rikugo

Kouchin

Taimou

Daion

Hijiri and Kazusa

Maria

Count and Watson

Chizuru and Rika (We have to go tell them!)

Kotaro and Kojiro (Kojiro might bring Natsuko)

* * *

"That's a fairly good list," Hisoka said, putting the paper down again. "We'll just put the people closest to us up front and work our way back, I guess." He looked up into Tsuzuki's face. "What's wrong?"

"It's odd," he said softly, "that between the two of us, neither one of us will have any blood-related relatives there."

"I'd rather my relatives not come within a 30-meter radius of me," Hisoka said flatly. "And we can't help it in your case, Tsuzuki."

"I just wish Ruka would be able to be there, you know?" Tsuzuki added, just as quietly as before. "I mean, I never got to see hers…and she never got to see hers either, thanks to m—…" Tsuzuki stopped at the look Hisoka gave him. "Thanks to those demons."

"Your sister was engaged?"

"Yeah." Tsuzuki paused. "What I said yesterday, about the first engaged couple I broke up…it was Ruka and her fiancé."

"That wasn't your fault, Tsuzuki," Hisoka reminded him.

"Mm…yeah," he admitted, at if it was painful for him to remove the guilt from himself. "Here, can you hold on a minute? I actually have a picture of her during her engagement. It's stowed away in one of my closets. You've never seen a picture of her, have you?"

"No, you've never showed me any."

"Okay, I'll go get one." Tsuzuki stood up and made for the next room.

"Tsuzuki, wait."

"Yeah?" He turned around to look at Hisoka.

"Can you handle this?"

Tsuzuki shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that I haven't looked at her face for over half a century and I want to see her while she was happy again."

He disappeared through the archway leading into the living room, and Hisoka heard him going down the hall, opening a door, and digging through some boxes. After a few seconds he reappeared, holding a tiny square of paper in his hand.

"My dad took this picture of them when they announced their engagement," he said, going over to Hisoka. He stood behind him and leaned over, holding the picture about a foot away from Hisoka's face. "That was his hobby; he'd gotten hold of an American camera once and never stopped using the thing."

"Whoa." Hisoka blinked at the picture. "She looks like a female you."

Staring out from the black and white photograph were two people, a male and a female. The female sported all Tsuzuki's features in a feminine form: a skinny but well-put-together frame, waist-length glossy dark hair, large and expressive dark eyes, a sweet little heart-shaped face, and a wide, welcoming, powerful smile. The mere image of her exuded warmth.

"She was a year older than me, so she'd be about 19 in this picture," Tsuzuki said. "This man here was her age, too. She'd worked as hired help in his house and I guess he just fell for her. His name was Seika Shinji."

"Is he still alive?"

"Well, he'd be 102 if he was," Tsuzuki said. "But some people are living that long now." He pointed at Ruka's smiling face. "She was _so_ in love with him, Hisoka. I couldn't have a conversation with her where she didn't mention his name at least 5 times. And he adored her, too. He worshipped the ground she walked on." He smiled wistfully. "I once told him I'd kick his butt if he ever broke bread over her head, and he told me he'd rather feed her the bread and starve if it meant she could eat."

He paused, biting his tongue.

"Tsuzuki?"

"Right after…right after I returned to my normal consciousness from when I…when I killed those demons…I saw him. He had heard her screaming and rushed over just in time to see me go insane and butcher them. He stared at me…he didn't say anything, just stared at me, and I knew…I just _knew_ he thought I killed her…I couldn't blame him, still can't…he called me a murderer…and then he, he went over to her body and held it like…it was that…seeing her lying so limp like that in his arms…it was that more than anything else that made me go crazy. She was _so_ beautiful, Hisoka, and she looked like…like…a broken doll…"

"Tsuzuki." In one fluid motion Hisoka put the picture down, stood up, turning as he went, and pulled Tsuzuki into him. "Stop it. Just stop it right now. It was years ago."

"83, to be exact," Tsuzuki choked out. "There was this huge crack in her face, like one of those dolls Muraki might have…and there was blood coming down out of it…and all over…"

"Stop it," Hisoka said, more a plea now than anything else. "Stop it, stop it, please…"

Tsuzuki dug his fingers into Hisoka's shirt and buried his face in his shoulder. Hisoka felt his legs sway as all of Tsuzuki's emotions poured onto him like a torrential downpour. His survival instinct commanded him to pull away. But the days of pulling away were over. Tentatively, flinching, he held Tsuzuki tighter to him, even as he began crying, hard and desperate, into his shoulder. He began to feel dizzy and lightheaded but he couldn't force Tsuzuki away.

"I'm sorry," Tsuzuki gasped, his voice muffled by Hisoka's clothes. "This has got to be hard for you…"

"Forget it," Hisoka said, gathering his strength into his mind and voice as he tried to dam up the flood of emotions before he drowned in them. "This is…this is what a fiancé does…"

Tsuzuki looked up, his eyes glistening with wetness. Hisoka nearly recoiled at the utter sense of loss swimming in them, but his initial reaction proved too weak against his conscience. Awkwardly he swiped the tears away from Tsuzuki's eyes and leaned his forehead against Tsuzuki's.

"You listen to me, and you listen good, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said quietly. "It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. You never asked for that to happen. You did not kill your sister. No one blames you for it except yourself. And if you insist on continuing that, don't you _dare_ act on it, Tsuzuki. I will séance you back into the world of the living and kill you again, do you understand?"

Tsuzuki laughed a hollow, bitter laugh. He grabbed Hisoka's shoulders and kissed his partner. "I'm sorry, Hisoka."

"And stop apologizing, fool. It makes you hate yourself more."

"That's true." Tsuzuki wiped his eyes with his arm, and then glanced down at the picture Hisoka had discarded on the table. "I just…I haven't talked about her in so long; I guess I…I'm just…out of practice…I miss her like _h—l_, Hisoka. I didn't say her name for _years_ before I saw the girl in that book, and she looked like Ruka's identical twin."

"W-well, that was 2 years ago, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said futilely, knowing the argument was pointless. Desperately he cast his mind around to look for something else to say. "The Count's rewriting that book's ending."

"Really," Tsuzuki said listlessly.

"He told me so when I was there. He said he had to reverse the role of the Butler and the Son." He was babbling, and he knew it, and Tsuzuki knew it, but he seemed to appreciate it.

"That's…nice." Tsuzuki put his arms around Hisoka's waist and rested his forehead against Hisoka's shoulder. "That's good."

"Tsuzuki…"

"Hisoka," Tsuzuki breathed. "Hisoka, Hisoka, Hisoka."

"There's only one of me, you know."

"I know," Tsuzuki said. "And there was only one of her. And I lost her."

"Barring something unusual like Touda, or impossible like us falling out of love, you are _not_ going to lose me."

Tsuzuki looked up at Hisoka. "I know that, but…"

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

Tsuzuki shut his mouth. A puzzled expression crossed both of their faces.

"And the winner of the Inopportune Moment Award goes to…" Hisoka muttered. "Who is it?" He called out.

"It's Kazusa!" a young, female voice called back.

"Kazusa-_chan_?" Tsuzuki let go of Hisoka.

"I came to warn you!" Kazusa yelled through the door. "I heard Saya-_san_ and Yuma-_san_ saying they were gonna ambush you today! And bring _everyone_ with them!"

"Who's everyone? And come in, the door's unlocked."

Kazusa turned the knob and stepped inside from the threshold. At 12 Kazusa had grown into almost 5 feet tall. Her eyes were just as large and golden, and her hair was just as red, but the former now seemed to fit her face, and the latter had grown down her back. Like her father and Hijiri, she had taken up the violin, and her fingers had grown long and lean.

"When I say "everyone", I mean "everyone"," Kazusa elaborated, coming towards the two of them. "Basically, your entire guest list. Even the people from Hong Kong and Chijou."

"They drive me nuts," Hisoka muttered under his breath.

"I overslept, otherwise I'd've been here earlier," Kazusa said apologetically. "I don't know when they'll be here, but sometime before evening."

"Thanks, Kazusa-_chan_," Tsuzuki said gratefully, reaching forward a hand to pet her head.

Kazusa looked into Tsuzuki's face. She frowned. "Have you been upset, Tsuzuki-_san_?"

This startled both Hisoka and Tsuzuki, so much so that it caused Tsuzuki to answer. "Yes."

"What about?"

"Just…something that happened long ago coming back to bite me in the a—s."

Kazusa giggled at his word choice. "Are you okay now?"

Tsuzuki sighed. "Maybe."

Kazusa looked perplexed; tempted to offer condolences yet feeling it was not her place. Her eyes fell upon the picture on the table and she picked it up. She studied the photograph for a few seconds, and then she looked up, biting her lip, her face the picture and dictionary definition of seriousness.

"Tsuzuki-_san_, were you ever a drag queen?"

That broke it. Tsuzuki had to laugh. Kazusa laughed, too, and even Hisoka managed to crack a smile. Tsuzuki wiped the mingled tears of sorrow and mirth from his face and took the picture from Kazusa. "No, Kazusa-_chan_. That woman is my sister, Ruka. She died a long time ago."

"She's very pretty," Kazusa said sincerely. "Is she what you were upset about?"

Tsuzuki glanced at Hisoka. "Yeah."

Kazusa looked down at the picture again. "I still have pictures of my father," she said. "I like to keep them with me."

"Why's that, Kazusa-_chan_?" Hisoka asked.

"Well…I guess it's so I can have memories of him and not be sad about it," she said. She wagged her finger at Tsuzuki. "It's not good to ignore the past, Tsuzuki-_san_!" she chided gently, playfully, not knowing how her words were affecting the pair in front of her. "I'd've never learned to play the violin if _I_ did, and then the world would be missing out on the latest violin prodigy!" She struck a faux model-like pose and then winked to show her joking.

"Or the makings of a future therapist," Tsuzuki added, petting Kazusa's head again.

"So, are you going to barricade the doors and put up a brave fight, or are you going to surrender and beg for mercy?" Kazusa asked, referring back to Saya and Yuma's ambush.

* * *

"_KANPAI_!"

The clunking sound of plastic cups tapping together filled the kitchen table. Much to Hisoka's chagrin Tsuzuki had chosen the latter option, and their tiny apartment was now overstuffed with, as per Kazusa's warning, their entire guest list sans the Shikigami. How Saya and Yuma had managed to find out the entire guest list, including Chizuru and Rika, and how they had found out where Hijiri lived fast enough to have him at this makeshift party, were questions Tsuzuki and Hisoka felt better left unanswered.

"To Tsuzuki and Hisoka _finally_ getting married!" Yuma announced, before downing her entire cup in three huge very audible gulps. The rest of the guests stared at her as she released her beverage with a loud "AH!" and slammed her cup down on the table. "That hit the spot!" She looked around at everyone else. "What? What're you gawking at me for? Drink up!"

The rest of the table nervously swallowed their beverages, civilized-like.

"Now, as I understand it, we've got some planning to do!" Yuma yelled, slamming her open palm on the table, and then pointing at Tsuzuki and Hisoka. "We've waited _years_ for this couple to get together! Plus, there hasn't been so much as a _handfasting_ ceremony in Meifu for 55 years! We should _all_ be part of this historic occasion!"

"Really? 55 years?" Tsubaki put in.

"Most people just finish their business with Chijou and pass on before they form any relationships," Tatsumi explained stiffly. He had been sitting tautly ever since arriving. "The last wedding we had was in 1945, after the bomb. The pair immediately passed on afterwards; they were getting married just as the bomb dropped, and that was their regret."

"Well, _I'd_ regret it too, if I was saying my vows and then got turned into carbon," Yuma said, as bitter as if it had happened to her. "But anyway!" She slammed her hand on the table again. "Back to business. Tsuzuki and Hisoka's wedding. Are you two having the sake ceremony? You can just play around with the last blessing a bit, you know."

"I don't think Hisoka would like it," Tsuzuki said.

"Why not?"

"He's alcohol intolerant," Tsuzuki informed her, before Hisoka could stop him.

"Cutie pie! That's so adorable!" Yuma leaned across the table to glomp Hisoka. "We can just use soda or something. Now, as I understand it, we have some of the musically inclined among us tonight. Maria-_chan_ is a singer, and Hijiri-_kun_ and Kazusa-_chan_ are violinists."

"Really?" Hijiri looked surprised, and turned his head to get a better view of the 12-year-old. "Kazusa, you took up the violin?"

"Oh, um…yeah," Kazusa said.

"She's _awesome_," Saya complimented, patting the younger girl on the head.

"I'm not that good," Kazusa insisted.

"No, you've got to be," Hijiri said. "It's in your genes."

"Well…I had a great example."

"Oh, puppy love!" Saya and Yuma exclaimed together. Kazusa blushed. Hijiri looked at a loss. "Wouldn't it be just adorable if they played the instrumentals together?"

Tsuzuki nudged Hisoka in the ribs and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "I think we'd better leave the planning up to them."

"I think we're going to be stuck doing that anyway," Hisoka replied flatly.

"At least we got the basic things squared away before they showed up."

"Yeah."

"I'm actually kinda relieved. Don't know about you, but I don't know the first thing about planning a wedding."

"What are you two whispering over there?" Yuma called to them. "This is _your_ wedding we're discussing here!"

"Tell you what," Tsuzuki said, smiling pleasantly. "Why don't we let _you_ come up with something and surprise us?"

Saya and Yuma's eyes turned almost literally into scintillating stars. "Really? You mean it?"

Despite his efforts Hisoka managed to catch a whiff of their thoughts. But given what they were, perhaps that was all for the best. "No…wait. I want someone to look over all your plans before you do anything about them. Chizuru, or Tsubaki-_hime_. I know you two."

Saya blew a raspberry at him. "You're no fun."

"And I'm also getting a headache from all these people," Hisoka said, pushing his chair back and rising. "I need some air."

"I'll come with you," Tsuzuki said, standing up as well to a resounding chorus of "Aww…"

The pair disappeared into the living room, and when the congregation heard the door to the outside click shut Saya threw up her arms and yawned. "Well, it's not like we have much planning to do. I mean, they've already picked a location and a time frame. And we can delegate responsibility to everyone sitting here. Eileen-_chan_ and Tsubaki-_chan_ can take care of flowers—and we can just gack those from Tsuzuki's garden. Maria-_chan_ and Hijiri-_kun_ and Kazusa-_chan_ can take care of music. Wakaba-_chan_ is a _miko_ so she can officiate. Tatsumi-tightwad can make sure that we don't overspend. And whoever can cook, will cook. Does that sound good to everyone?"

The entire room seemed flabbergasted that the girl was being so calm. "Y-yes…"

"I'm the calm one!" Saya said, seeing their faces and grinning. She raised her half-full cup. "_KANPAI_!"

"Let's party!" was Yuma's battle cry.

* * *

"It's unusually cold for May," Hisoka said, staring up into the sky and folding his arms across himself to keep his torso warm.

"You just have a low body temperature," Tsuzuki said, wrapping his arms around Hisoka's, just underneath the shoulders. "You're cold-blooded."

"Not so cold-blooded as to forget what happened earlier."

Hisoka felt rather than saw Tsuzuki frown. "Thank goodness Kazusa stepped in when she did. I would've been a wreck if she hadn't."

"Then it's a good thing she decided to stay in Meifu."

"Nn." Tsuzuki nuzzled his head into Hisoka's. "It's a better thing _you're_ in Meifu."

"Suck-up."

"How is it sucking up when it's the truth?" He squeezed Hisoka, who almost imperceptibly leaned back into the embrace. There was a long silence. "Maybe Kazusa's right. Maybe I should think of Ruka more often."

"Only if it'll help you," Hisoka said. "If it'll make you more depressed, don't even try it."

"Yes, _sir_."

"Well, I told you that you're not going to lose me. That, unfortunately for you, means that you have to listen to what I say."

Tsuzuki blew a raspberry.

"…You just spat on me, did you know that?"

"Sorry."

* * *

"Oi, oi, Tsubaki-_chan_, did you get the job?" a slightly tipsy Yuma asked, her hands on her hips and leaning over so she was directly in Tsubaki's face. With the departure of Tsuzuki and Hisoka, the rest of the guests had fanned out and had taken over the living room. Tsubaki had taken a seat on their couch, and Eileen sat next to her, legs crossed Indian-style.

"Job?" Eileen looked at Tsubaki. "What job?"

Tsubaki sighed. "Yuma, I didn't want Eileen to know unless I got it."

"Camille-_dono_," Eileen whined, snuggling up closer to her girlfriend. "What job?"

"There was an open Shinigami post," Tsubaki said with a sigh. "And, no, I didn't get it."

"Oh!" Yuma clasped her hands over her mouth. "I'm so sorry, Tsubaki-_chan_."

"Why didn't you want to tell me?" Eileen asked.

"Shinigami work can be international," Tsubaki explained. "If I didn't get the job, I didn't want you to be disappointed."

"Oh, Camille-_dono_," Eileen purred, nuzzling her nose against Tsubaki's cheek. "You're so sweet."

"Well, maybe someone else'll pass on!" Yuma said hopefully. "Plus, you can always just visit each other."

"But I'm working all the time," Eileen said. "Hong Kong's busy. Maria'll say so, too. Maria!" She called over to the recliner, where Maria was relaxing. "Hong Kong. Aren't we busy?"

"Like a swarm of bees," Maria affirmed, smoothing the hem of her dress.

"See?"

"Oh…well…you guys should make some time to see each other. Me and Saya have it easy, but you two definitely need work in that department. In fact…we should all see each other more often." There was a gleam in her eyes that foretold diabolical plots as she turned around and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hey! Hel_lo_! Will all guests of the female persuasion please gather 'round?"

Nervously, slowly, Wakaba stepped forward from where she had been standing at the opening of the hallway.

"Don't be shy, ladies!" Yuma yelled, clapping her hands together. "Saya-_koi_! Maria-_chan_! Anyone else biologically capable of birthing a baby! Join the circle, please!"

As if to get Yuma to shut up, the female population of the guest list flocked around her.

"We need to have a hag party," Yuma announced.

"A what?" Rika asked, blinking.

"A hag party! A party for just us girls. Kinda like a bachelor party sans the bachelor. Think about it. We're all Tsuzuki and Hisoka's hags. And Lord knows we'll never get that stick-in-the-mud cutie-pie girly-looking-boy to throw a party, even if it's one celebrating himself. Besides, a girl party is better!"

"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Saya squealed. "We're already planning a wedding, and now we're planning a party!"

"We're regular planners!"

Chizuru put a hand against Yuma's forehead, and then felt her own. "Nope, she's not ill. She's just had too much to drink."

"Chizuru, Chizuru, Chizuru," Yuma scolded. "Too much is not enough."

"So long as Kazusa doesn't have "too much"," Wakaba said, patting the young girl's head.

"Kazusa knows better!" Yuma said. "Besides, how would it look to Hijiri-_kun_ if his admirer was drunk?"

"I'm not his admirer," Kazusa murmured, blushing.

"Oh, Kazusa, it's nothing to be ashamed of! All pubescent girls have an affinity with older men!"

"I don't have an affinity with Hi-_chan_!" Kazusa stopped short, realizing she had just called him by her childish nickname for him.

"Aww, your denial is cute." Yuma glomped the shorter girl. "Don't worry, just wait 6 more years. Then you'll be 18 and he'll be 26, and it'll be nice and clean and legal!"

"Yuma, stop bothering Kazusa-_chan_," Wakaba scolded, seeing the mortified look on the young violinist's face.

"Well, anywha, this party is partly in honor of the beautiful Sapphic love of Eileen and Tsubaki!" She gestured at the two horrified girls on the couch. "Our flower children aren't able to see each other often, so a party celebrating love is a perfect excuse! So, show your support of our camellias and come to the party!"

"Yuma, this _will _be a dry party if we have it," Tsubaki said stiffly, her face flushed.

"You poor innocent," Yuma said, patting Tsubaki's head.

* * *

Tatsumi gently closed the door as he stepped out onto the apartment complex's veranda. He had been slowly inching towards the exit since Yuma began shouting and had made it out just as Tsubaki was insisting on the sobriety of a party that he was thankful not to be invited to.

"Hey, Tatsumi."

"Tsuzuki." Tatsumi turned around. On the porch floor, leaning against the railing, were Tsuzuki and Hisoka. Tsuzuki was sitting up, his legs bent in v-shapes, one protruding up into the air, and the other flat against the ground. The knee lying flat against the floorboards was serving as a pillow for Hisoka's head; the younger of the betrothed pair was sleeping lightly, his fingers curled as slightly as withered petals by the side of his face.

"He's had a long day," Tsuzuki said by way of explanation. "He got up early to go see the Count, and he's had a lot of emotions thrown at him."

"You mean by this party?"

"Well, that," Tsuzuki said, "and we had a little…incident."

"Did you two argue?"

"No, not argue," Tsuzuki said carefully. "I told Hisoka a little about my past and…I didn't handle it very well. We both got a little upset, that's all. We're better now."

"I see."

Tatsumi watched Tsuzuki absently stroke Hisoka's hair with the back of his hand. Hisoka's hand twitched, and he adjusted his body in his sleep to lie more comfortably. Tsuzuki's hand halted as Hisoka positioned himself, and when he had attained the preferred situation Tsuzuki rested his arm along Hisoka's side.

It was a far cry from 50 years ago, when he had been partnered with Tatsumi. If Tsuzuki ever mentioned his past, neither of them dealt with it well. Every small instance led to Tsuzuki breaking down into tears and Tatsumi needing to leave before he did likewise.

"I told Kurosaki-_kun_ that he might be the one to stay with you forever," Tatsumi said, as if not knowing he was speaking. "Though, I wasn't quite expecting it like this…"

"Tatsumi?"

Tatsumi shook his head. "It's nothing, Tsuzuki."

"Tatsumi, are you _really_ okay with this?" Tsuzuki's hand slid down Hisoka's arm, and he took his fiancé's hand. "It won't change anything between Hisoka and me, but if it's hurting my friend, I want to do something about it."

"There is nothing you can do, Tsuzuki," Tatsumi said, shaking his head again. "I am not jealous of Kurosaki-_kun_."

"Really?" There was no sarcasm, no barbing, just an unadulterated, searching question.

"If I am, it's not in the way you think," Tatsumi said.

"Then how is it?"

"Do you and that mad scientist share a brain? He's been asking me that same question."

"Of course we share a brain," Tsuzuki said humorously. "That's why our IQs are below normal."

Tatsumi snorted a laugh. At the sound Hisoka, still asleep, frowned and turned again, this time lying on his stomach and burying his face against Tsuzuki's pant leg.

"How are you going to get him home?" Tatsumi asked, stepping forward and kneeling down in front of them.

"Oh…um…" Tsuzuki looked guilty, but he didn't want to lie. "Don't tell anyone that I told you this, Tatsumi…especially Hisoka…but he lives here. Has been for the past couple months. No one knows about it except the record keepers. Hisoka didn't want anyone to know."

"Oh…I see. Why didn't he?"

"Look at the people we would be telling." Tsuzuki gestured towards the door Tatsumi had just exited from. "There are just two emotions that Hisoka can't stand even with his best barriers: anger and lust. I guess he thought our co-workers would get a little…well, you know…risqué, in their thoughts."

"I know," Tatsumi said slowly. He paused for a second. "It seems odd."

"How so?"

"He never seemed the type to live with someone."

"Well…it was weird how it happened," Tsuzuki said, in such a way that Tatsumi decided not to inquire further. "And sad. But…I guess that's just how our relationship is."

""Sad" isn't supposed to describe a relationship as serious as yours."

Tsuzuki smiled. "Hisoka and I were just discussing that earlier. I said something about a "normal, healthy relationship". And he said that our relationship wasn't exactly "normal" but it was certainly "healthy" enough."

"I'd agree with that assessment." Tatsumi put his hand on Hisoka's head with brotherly affection.

"Tatsumi, I really hope you get here, too," Tsuzuki said quietly. "To a healthy relationship. Aside from this one here," Tsuzuki traced Hisoka's ear with his finger, "you're my best friend and you deserve it, after putting up with me for over 50 years."

Before Tatsumi could respond Tsuzuki had pulled him into a hug around the neck and given him a small kiss on the cheek, just next to his ear. He tightened the embrace for a split second and then let go of his ex-partner.

"Tsuzuki, was that wise?"

"We're healthy enough, like he said," Tsuzuki said, patting Hisoka's head. "I told you, nothing would change. Between me and Hisoka, and between you and me."

"That's good. I wouldn't want it to."

"Now, I'd suggest you get home, Tatsumi," Tsuzuki said, smiling so the corners of his eyes crinkled. "I think Yuma and Saya are getting drunker in there, and I wouldn't want to be around when they remember the words "Pink House"."

"Yes, I should," Tatsumi said, rising. "Good night, to both of you."

"Good night."

* * *

Ah, finally done!

About the quick transition between Tsuzuki and Hisoka angsting and Kazusa entering…that was (sort of) planned and I have a reason for it, so don't worry about it.

Oh, and Second Death has its own forums now! Please go and check it out; you can post about anything you want so long as it relates to the story. I would really love it if someone posted there!

Oh, and my updated Stats (4:11 on 2/21/06):

Reviews—5th place (31)

Hits—1st place (1166)

Faves—Tied for 6th (8)

Alerts—1st place (11)

Thank you all!


	6. Needed

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yami no Matsuei

**Shout-outs:**

December Jewel: I've continued!

Kiko812: Thank you! I'm a teensy bit proud of my Hisoka, too. Such a grumpy sweetie! (Glomps him)

As for everyone else…well, I actually think it's much, much easier to have storylines revolving around lots of people. Makes for great scene changes when I run out of ideas. Besides, they're all my babies and I like to put them all through Hell (I can write it if I'm talking about the place!) before I give them a happy ending. Just like the main characters. Hee-hee!

Though I wish I had a bigger plotline for Saya/Yuma. They're one of my Three True Pairings (the others being Tsuzuki/Hisoka and Tsubaki/Eileen), but I just can't think of how I can torture them like I do the others (Well, maybe not to the extent of Tsuzuki/Hisoka—they just _beg_ to be tortured, and besides, they're the main couple—but at least as much as Tsubaki/Eileen, who will be having much more angsting going on, starting this chapter). But…maybe that's okay. We need _some _reminder that love can be fun, y'know?

Stratus5: Hugs for you, too! It's great knowing that my writing makes people smile.

Karou-Uesugi-138: …and ever!

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: I'm totally an attention-hog, too. You can expect an answer to every last one of the reviews (except for the ones on the last chapter, of course).

(Braced for fawning) Those two parts were my absolute favorites, too, and I have a hard time choosing one over the other. I was really, really hoping that someone would pick up on the "This is what a fiancé does" line in the first scene, and how there's still love between Tatsumi/Tsuzuki, just not the same as the love between Tsuzuki/Hisoka. While I don't expect everyone to see a piece of writing the way the author does (authorial intent is nothing, _nothing_ I tell you!), it really does make my day when someone catches on.

Yami Chikara: Best chapter yet? Hmm…yeah, I agree.

**Side Note #1:** Okay, seriously, this chapter _is_ filler and not as drama-racked as the previous. It's more like light angst sprinkled with plot points with a dash of psuedo-humor, if anything. I need a break from the angst and drama before it gets too maudlin and loses its power.

This chapter is also more focused on everyone else, kinda like how chapter 2 was.

It'll probably suck in comparison to the others.

What's funny is that I wasn't planning Tsuzuki's breakdown over Ruka for last chapter. He was only supposed to show Hisoka the picture and explain how she was engaged before she died. His huge breakdown was meant solely for chapter 7. But hey, the muses led me. Which is okay, because I got a new idea from it. That will be played out in chapter 7 and put into words when we finally get to the wedding.

**Side Note #2:** Lots of references this time around.

"Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die." – An old Epicurean (Greek philosophy) saying

"Très Children of the Corn." – From a (I think) Stephen King book. The CotC say, "We love you name. We know all your secrets."

Ring stand, crucible, Bunsen burner – All equipment found in a chemistry lab

**Side Note #3:** Volume 10 is finally out in English and I have loads to say.

The Shiki:

1. OMG I love Riko! That cactus is the cutest thing ever. I will bawl my eyes out when he dies.

2. Suzaku…Touda…UST. (Snerf) Seriously, Matsushita is just asking for them to be paired together. Touda's such a clueless guy when it comes to her. "I made her mad again…was it something I said?"

3. Tenko is OMG the cutest thing ever! Yes, I said the same about Riko, but…GASP must start pairing Riko with Tenko!

4. Rikugo is the prettiest thing ever. I love him so much. I think he is my favorite of the Shiki.

5. My guess at Taimou and Kouchin's characterizations were pretty accurate! Yay!

6. I like Touda's present appearance. The long hair, leg warmers, and bondage thing from his flashbacks just wasn't working. Sorry.

The Kurosaki family:

1. Hisoka's imaginary friends? C-R-E-E-P-Y.

2. Kurosaki Iwao? U-G-L-Y.

3. I already want to beat Nagare's head in with a lead pipe. That awful man put his son through Hell and doesn't show any kind of regret for it. Rui's not much better. When even the imaginary friends feel badly for Hisoka when his mother beats him, you know there's something wrong. I'm so glad Hisoka died; at least now he's far from them.

4. Argh! It's driving me crazy because I _know_ who it is that yells, "Give me back my name!" at Hisoka. And I'll drive you crazy by not telling you!

Hisoka's Characterization:

1. Consistent. At times he seems a bit conceited and downright childish. But when he talks about how he's tired of running away, and wants to be equals with Tsuzuki and protect the ones he cares for, I can forgive it all. Plus, he really loves Riko! It's so sweet.

Best for last; the Tsuzuki/Hisoka quotes.

1. "Nobody knows you better than I do."-Tsuzuki to Hisoka.

2. "Tsuzuki's just worried about you."-Suzaku to Hisoka.

3. "I don't want to be a burden to him anymore. I want to be his equal. I can't match his years of experience. And no matter how hard I try, I can't reach his level of genius."-Hisoka to Genbu.

4. "Tsuzuki cares for him deeply."-Touda to Genbu.

5. After Hisoka is sucked into the wormhole…"Tsuzuki must be worried sick. Poor guy."-Suzaku to herself.

6. "It never used to bother me, so why am I afraid to be alone now?…………I want to go home. Why aren't you here with me, Tsuzuki?"-Hisoka to himself.

7. "Don't be sad. It's not your fault that Hisoka disappeared." "If only I'd been with him!"-Kijin and Tsuzuki.

* * *

Needed

* * *

"1…2…3…4…4 minutes."

Hisoka felt a strange rushing as the spirit of the young man he was channeling left him. Three weeks had passed since the Count initially offered this training in Illusory Magic, and it was now nearing the end of May.

"You're improving, Kurosaki-_san_," the Count offered sincerely. "Your progress is coming along much quicker and smoother than even I predicted."

Hisoka wept sweat of his forehead. "Thanks."

"Tired?"

"No," Hisoka negated, shaking his head.

The Count frowned. "I disagree, Kurosaki-_san_."

"You what?"

"You will take a break now."

"But—"

"No buts, Kurosaki-_san_. You cannot expect to channel spirits in this state. One must rest after strenuous exercise." The Count clapped his hands. "Come. Have some refreshments with me."

"Whatever."

It appeared that Watson had psychic powers, as tea was already poured and bread already sliced by the time the Count had led Hisoka through the labyrinth of hallways and maze-like rows of candles to the outside gardens.

"Ah, lovely," The Count said, pulling his seat out and sitting down, taking in the pale pink landscape. "The _sakura_ are quite healthy."

"I'm not a huge fan, personally," Hisoka said tightly, wrapping his fingers around his teacup.

"_Sakura_ symbolize death," the Count said.

"I can believe that," Hisoka said, his voice almost constricted.

"So how fitting that they bloom in a place of half-death. Do you know, I think they are the only things truly alive here."

"I think the definition of "life" is subjective, Count," Hisoka countered.

"Well, I sha'n't argue that," the Count said. He took a sip of his own tea. "You really _are_ progressing as an Illusion-worker, Kurosaki-_san_."

"I suppose."

"Only suppose?" The Count cocked an invisible eyebrow.

"Only being able to hold on to a form for 4 minutes, after practicing for 3 weeks, isn't exactly what I'd call progress."

"Illusory Magic is very difficult, Kurosaki-_san_. You should be proud of what you have accomplished so far."

"3 weeks? 4 minutes? That's something to be proud of? You don't have high hopes for me."

"My, you're impatient." The Count folded his hands in front of him. "Kurosaki-_san_, you have eternity to become more powerful. You've only been a Shinigami for four years. It _did_ take Tsuzuki-_san_ several years to control all his Shikigami, and _he_ has magical powers that he was born with. Yes, I know something about that," the Count said at Hisoka's startled look, taking a sip of tea. "Probably not as much as you do, but something. The point I'm trying to reach, Kurosaki-_san_, is that you have time." He took another sip of tea. "Why is it that you want to have such power, anyway?"

"I hate being weak."

"And why is that?"

"Because I can't protect what I love if I'm weak," Hisoka said, deciding not to hold anything back.

"You speak of Tsuzuki-_san_, I assume," the Count said knowingly. "Correct me if I'm mistaken, but wasn't it your weakness that saved him from Touda a little over a year ago?"

"It's different now," Hisoka insisted, feeling heat rising to his voice. "He _needs_ my strength now."

"I suppose he does," the Count said musingly. "However—and this is just an outsider's opinion, Kurosaki-_san_—he needs your weakness, as well."

Hisoka frowned. "Not following."

"Every living thing," the Count said, tracing the rim of his cup with his clothed index finger, "likes to be _needed_. And we usually comply when someone needs us, but _only_ if we know that they are sincere." He took another sip. "I think this might be why you can only hold a form for a few minutes. The soul you are channeling doesn't feel any sincere need from you, or a humble request for help."

"The soul thinks I'm being selfish?" Hisoka questioned unbelievingly.

"Yes. The soul feels that you are using them just for yourself, and not to help their loved one pass on in peace. This is the case with many Illusion-Workers; it's not just you, Kurosaki-_san_." The Count finished his tea and set his cup down.

"Huh."

"Surprised?"

"It's not every day I'm told spirits don't like me because I'm a self-centered a—shole."

"Language, language, Kurosaki-_san_. And I think it's your impatience, not any lack of compassion, which makes them believe you are selfish. If I truly believed that you were lacking in that department, I would have put up more of fuss when you announced your engagement."

"More than you did?" Hisoka snorted.

"Well, I can get carried away," the Count said, and then laughed so mirthfully that Hisoka felt the tiniest bit freaked out. "But I _do_ adore him."

"You don't hold back, do you?" Hisoka muttered, annoyed.

"Living as one pleases is the key to longevity."

"But you're immortal."

"So I might as well do as I please!"

"And with that absolutely airtight argument…" Hisoka stood. "I think I should get back to practice."

"Oh, relax," the Count said, placating. "Do sit and discipline yourself into patience. As I said, I do not believe you are truly selfish. Irritable, impatient, and impetuous—hmm, assonance—but not selfish."

"Not selfish, eh?" Hisoka said, biting his lip as to not retort with listing the Count's own faults.

"_Did it…bother you that I saved you?"_

"_You don't think it was selfish of me?"_

"I doubt Tsuzuki would be as involved with you as he is if you were," the Count said, as if reading Hisoka's mind. "Even if saving him from Touda actually was."

"He doesn't think it was," Hisoka said.

"Then he probably felt a sincere need of him from you. That's why I'm saying, Kurosaki-_san_, that he needs your weakness as well as your strength. Now, that being said, we'll adjourn back to training in a few minutes. Until then, eat, drink, and be merry."

"For tomorrow we die?"

"Kurosaki-_san_, we're already dead."

Hisoka felt the urge to bang his head against the table.

* * *

"003, don't…shoo!" Watari swiped at the air, pushing his feathered companion away from where he was measuring a beaker of liquid into another. "I have to be…very…careful…"

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

"Yeah?" Watari whipped around, and the fluid he had been cautiously pouring began dripping onto the counter.

"Watari, your nosiness has reached new levels of insane."

"The door's unlocked!" Watari called, grinning as Tatsumi opened the door, brandishing a yellow piece of office paper with the message "We love you, Tatsumi. But we don't know all your secrets" scrawled across it in red ink and an evil smiling face, complete with fangs, horns, and cape, drawn underneath it. "Oh, I see you got my note."

"Très Children of the Corn, Watari," Tatsumi said flatly. He glanced at the counter. "Is this a bad time?"

"Huh?" Watari followed his gaze. "Oh, shoot!" The liquid he had been pouring was now eating away at the counter. "Great. Well, it'll stop reacting in a minute."

"Working on your sex-change potion?" Tatsumi asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"It's only my afterlife's work!" Watari said, half-serious, half-joking. "Well, are you here to finally tell me what's wrong, or are you just being nosy, yourself?"

"I came to tell you that you're nuts," Tatsumi said impassively.

"Ah, nuts about my friends, you mean," Watari corrected. "Come on, Tatsumi, it's not like I'm going to go blab it to the rest of the world."

"You're a freak," Tatsumi said plainly.

"Fine then," Watari said, tantrum-like. He crossed his arms and stomped his foot for effect.

"And a child."

Watari stuck out his tongue, shut his one eye, and pulled the bottom eyelid of his open eye down. "Nyah! Why don't you just leave, then?"

"Nothing would please me more."

The pencil-thin hand on the clock ticked by a few seconds. But neither man had moved. Tatsumi twitched and made to, but equally jerky was his impulse to pull back and stay put.

"Ah, conflicting desires," Watari said, faux-wisely. "While you're busy sorting out your brain, mind if I make some tea?" He turned away, peeling off his gloves, and went to a counter a few feet away from the one that was hissing and cracking as the chemical ate away at the metal. He set up a ring stand and planted an enlarged crucible full of water on it. He had just plugged in the Bunsen burner and was balancing the flint striker over it when Tatsumi's voice reached his ears.

"To be honest, I'm jealous."

Watari gave a little jump and set the Bunsen burner aflame. He turned around, his hair barely escaping being ignited, as well. "Oh, really?"

"Not in the way you think," Tatsumi said hastily. "I was…fond of Tsuzuki, true. I still am, but not in the same way. And besides, I wouldn't risk my friendship with either of them that way."

"Oh?" Watari cocked an eyebrow. "Then what's the problem?"

"Mm." Tatsumi paused. He seemed to be searching his thoughts. "Watari, have you noticed how we refer to each other by our last names around here?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know why that is?"

"I've got a feeling _you_ want to tell me," Watari said, propelling himself up to sit on the counter next to his boiling water.

"Culturally we Japanese avoid getting too close," Tatsumi began, "and that's why we only refer to each other by our given names when we are family, friends, or lovers. Personal names are a privilege of closeness. It's different with Kurosaki-_kun_ and Tsuzuki—Tsuzuki wants to be identified by his family, so even after they're married Kurosaki-_kun_ will call him "Tsuzuki". But for the rest of us, we use family names to indicate personal space." A short pause. "It is a barrier."

"Huh," Watari intoned. "I never thought of it that way."

"We rarely do. It is one of those cultural norms we've long forgotten the meaning of but protect fiercely."

"Like Happy Hour in America!" Watari exclaimed.

"…Yes, like Happy Hour," Tatsumi allowed, somehow seeing the logic in Watari's words. His mouth twitched in a smile somehow mixing sadness and amusement. "Did you know…back when Tsuzuki and I were partners, he told me that he liked me?"

"Really now," Watari said, cocking an eyebrow. "I can imagine that went over _quite_ well, didn't it."

"I rebuffed him, of course," Tatsumi said matter-of-factly. "But that's not the problem."

"Then what is it?"

"When he did, he called me "Tatsumi"."

"Aa-aa-h," Watari said, understanding. "I'm getting it now."

"I wasn't the best partner to him," Tatsumi continued, as if unaware he still had an audience. "I put up a barrier with my aloofness. Even when admitting romantic feelings for me, he still deferred to that barrier."

There was a silence. Tatsumi seemed intensely fascinated with staring at his hands.

Watari nearly jumped when Tatsumi cleared his throat. "Well, as I said, Tsuzuki and I are water under the bridge now. It was years ago, and I have no feelings for him now similar to those Kurosaki-_kun_ has. However, no one, since I've lived in Meifu, has ever called me "Seiichiro". Do you know…I miss the sound of my given name being spoken."

Watari gave him a hard look. Tatsumi rung his hands and stood, giving a small inclination of his head as he did so.

"Well, that's the story, Watari," he said, walking towards the door. "All your nosiness has finally paid off. I don't know what came over me…Now that I've wasted both of our times, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Tatsumi…wait a second."

Tatsumi stopped, his hand on the doorknob. "What is it?"

"Would you…" Watari trailed off, and then impulsively flung himself into his next words. "Would you like to be my date to the wedding?"

"Would I _what_?" Tatsumi turned around, his face hammered into surprise.

"I'm going alone, you're going alone," Watari said. "And we're friends, as much as we bicker. It makes sense. Plus, you've given me the most original "I'm gonna die alone" speech I've heard in quite awhile, so you deserve a date for that."

"Thanks…" Tatsumi said acerbically.

"Oh, relax, Tatsumi," Watari said, grinning. "Why not be my date? We can just share a dance or two, and when Tsuzuki and Bon leave, we can go get coffee or tea or booze or something."

"That sounds…"

"Ridiculous?" Watari asked, smirking.

"…nice," Tatsumi said, surprising Watari and, as evident by his face, himself.

"Really?" Watari asked, blinking. "You'll be my date?"

"I suppose…" Tatsumi said uncertainly. "You're right, I have no reason not to be."

"Oh…well…it's a date, then!"

"It…is." Tatsumi stood nervously, watching the equally tense Watari rock back and forth slightly on the countertop. "I really have to get back to work now."

"Tatsumi…wait," Watari said, and Tatsumi stopped mid-turn. "In all seriousness, would you actually like to be my date?"

"I already said "yes", didn't I?" Tatsumi returned, though softer and less biting than he might be.

"…Good."

A pause.

"You know," Watari mused aloud, "there was never any love lost between me and my given name. I mean, who wants to have the same name as a bathrobe? But sometimes…I miss someone saying it, too."

Tatsumi turned back to the door and took the knob.

"Maybe…we'll both hear it eventually," Watari said conclusively. He could tell by the twitching of face muscles that Tatsumi had, for a fleeting instant, smiled.

* * *

"5 minutes…well, it's an improvement," Hisoka muttered to himself, trudging away from the Hall of Candles. The Count had made him quit just after he managed to extend his power by another minute, insisting that Hisoka shouldn't push himself so much. Arguments to the contrary fell on deaf ears, and Watson had had to practically drag Hisoka out of the building to make him leave.

"Oh, hey…Hisoka!"

Hisoka turned around. Strolling aimlessly around the street, a bag of groceries hanging off her arm, was Tsubaki.

"Hi, Tsubaki-_hime_."

She jogged up to him, the plastic bag swinging to and fro on her forearm. "Isn't this nuts?" she asked, raising the bag so he knew she was discussing it. "3 years to get used to food shopping on my own, and I still always manage to forget something I need."

"Why don't you go back and get it?"

"Why, I'd rather talk to you, of course!" Tsubaki said, smiling. "Actually, I have some cash left. Why don't we go to that teashop up the street and get something? My treat!"

"I'm not much company, you'll find," Hisoka said blandly.

"Sourpuss," Tsubaki chided. She caught his arm with her free hand and began pulling him up the street.

"Tsubaki-_hime_…"

"Come on, we're friends, aren't we?" she pouted, batting her eyelashes. "You can't resist this adorable girl asking for some time with her friend…"

"Fine, fine, whatever," Hisoka said, giving in. It was hard to say "no" to Tsubaki.

"Yay!" Tsubaki smiled to show her childishness was over. "Seriously, my treat."

"So, how goes it with Tsuzuki?" Tsubaki asked, stirring a teaspoon of sugar into her cup. "I wasn't keeping you from going to meet him, was I?"

"No, not especially," Hisoka said. "I was just going home."

"Oh, so you _were_ going to meet him," she said sagely.

"How did you…?"

"Aside from Tsuzuki, I'd like to consider myself your best friend," Tsubaki said, absently stirring her tea. "I have a little something called "intuition". I know these things."

Hisoka groaned loudly, slapping his face with his hand. "Great. Who else…"

"Oh, just me, as far as I know," Tsubaki said cheerily. "And I wouldn't tell anyone else, on my honor." Tsubaki drew an imaginary X across her chest, and then folded her arms across the table. "So, how long?"

"About 6 months."

"Wow," Tsubaki said appreciatively, though surprised. "That's a fair bit. What made you want to get married, then?"

"Why does anyone want to?" Hisoka challenged. "It's what happens. It was on a whim that I asked him, but it felt right."

"Hmm." Tsubaki smiled again, a little lacking this time.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Tsubaki said.

"Bulls—t," Hisoka said. "You're forgetting my special little power, remember? I'm trying hard not to look inside your mind but you're not making it easy."

"Oh…sorry," Tsubaki said sheepishly. "Makes you wonder how I kept Muraki's secret so well, with you see through me so easily."

"Possession does that," Hisoka said. He felt a strong pulse of unexpected emotion from Tsubaki at the thought of Muraki. "Is this something to do with the Queen Camellia?"

"No…not exactly," Tsubaki said. "It involves Eileen."

"I figured," Hisoka said. "They felt familiar." Upon their first reunion in Meifu, Hisoka had unintentionally felt Tsubaki's emotions and was the first to discover that her regret had to do with losing someone in Chijou. He had learned to associate Eileen with these particular emotions, a la Pavlov's dogs, after Saya and Yuma had produced the girl some months afterwards.

"Mm. You know how I wanted to get the Shinigami post on the off chance that I'd see her more often?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I didn't get it."

"Sorry."

"So I began looking into other ways we could see each other more often. International Meifu laws only allow occasional visits between Shinigami from two countries. I don't think that's good enough to form a committed relationship."

"Understandable."

"Eileen was, too, apparently," Tsubaki said. She paused. "She left me a message on my phone today. Her research said that the way for Shinigami of two countries to see more of each other than just the government-regulated occasional visits is to get married."

Hisoka blinked. "Whoa. D—n that bureaucracy."

"Seriously."

"What's the problem, Tsubaki-_hime_? You wanted the job so you could see more of her, didn't you?"

"That's exactly it! I wanted to see more of her so our relationship could get stronger. But her voice on the machine…it sounded like she really wanted to get married. ASAP."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do!" Tsubaki yelped at him, rising a little from her seat, surprising them both and some of the surrounding tables. "Sorry," she apologized to the room collectively, shamefacedly sitting down and clearing her throat. "Look, Hisoka, Eileen _always knew_ what her feelings were for me. She left her _country_, just to be with me. Yes, we were only 8 at the time, but she already somehow _knew_ she wanted to be with me. It's not that simple in my case. I was in love with someone for 7 years, and she wasn't around for most of them. I didn't even know that losing her was my regret until Saya and Yuma practically waved her in my face! I lost her for 9 years and I've only had her again for 1…that's not long enough."

"I understand," Hisoka said slowly.

"At least someone does," Tsubaki mumbled.

"You already told her?"

"Not yet." Tsubaki shook her head. "She just sounded so…_hopeful_ on the phone. How can I crush her like that?"

"It'll be worse if you're not honest with her," Hisoka said levelly. "You of all people know what blind love can do to someone."

"Yes, I know what it can do," she said slowly, her voice low. An uncomfortable silence passed. "But this won't end in her death. I _do_ love her, Hisoka. Just…I'm not ready for it."

"You don't have to tell me," Hisoka said. "Literally. You're extremely bad at hiding your emotions."

Tsubaki gave a watery smile. "Thank you." She leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"I hope it goes over well," Hisoka said.

"Eileen…she just throws herself into things. She's so gung-ho, Hisoka," Tsubaki said fondly, smiling. "But she gets crushed so easily. The littlest things make her upset. She's just a little bit like Tsuzuki." She frowned. "But when she gets upset, she gets angry. That's where their differences are."

"Don't let her cow you, Tsubaki-_hime_," Hisoka advised strongly, almost commanding. "That's not fair."

"I won't," Tsubaki said. She smiled weakly, and then cleared her throat. "We had better get going. I should call her as soon as possible, and you have a fiancé waiting for you at home…"

"Tsubaki-_hime_, please…"

"Yes, yes. Whispered, not spoken. You know," she said with a teasing, impish smile, "none of this would've happened if I'd have just stuck with you. But you can't have any regrets, you know?"

Hisoka refrained from commenting on the irony of that statement.

* * *

ARGH! (Rams head into desk). I am so sorry for this chapter. This was awful as filler goes. But I had to get it out of the way as there are plently of plot points covered by it. Please forgive me. 


	7. Juxtaposition

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yami no Matsuei

**Shout-outs:**

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: Yes, I know, awful, awful, awful! I actually agree somewhat about Tatsumi. What happened was, I sometimes write scenes ahead of time that keep playing in my head. I handwrote the Tatsumi/Watari scene way before I typed it. But I wrote the rest of the story differently than I had initially imagined it. Ergo, it didn't quite match up. But I'd gotten so attached to it that I couldn't let it go. I tried, I really did, to make him as IC as possible. I didn't think it was as bad as it might have been. It wasn't as good as it might have been, either, but…ah, well. There are hits and there are misses.

About Hisoka channeling souls…two words: Plot. Point. It might turn into some deus ex machina but, hey. I told you I'm bad at those. _But_…I think Hisoka might be interested. I'm looking mainly at his desire to be in control and have a power of his own. Why not exploit what he already has?

Sucks that you're not interested in T/E…they're one of my three favorite pairings.

Again, sorry for making you read that awful waste of keystrokes. This chapter will be better—possibly even good—I promise!

Status5: Thanks. (HugglesGlomps) I still think it was awful, but I'm glad someone enjoyed it.

jennamarie: Isn't it weird that a wedding story's shortened form is Second Death? LOL. Thank you for enjoying it, too.

And Riko's cowboy hat (it's not a sombrero, but you _did_ spell that correctly) is the best, IMHO. It makes him even cuter. I drew a picture of him and Tenko. Tenko is lying on the ground, like in that picture where Kouchin is talking to her, and Riko is next to her. They're sitting on a hill and staring up at the sky. I wrote "Tenko and Riko" on the top, and then at the bottom I wrote "Vomit-inducing cuteness of little Shikigami".

What do you think of the pairings Rikugo/Kijin and Seiryuu/Kouchin? We just recently came up with these. Seiryuu/Kouchin is okay (though I prefer to pair him with an OC named Aiko), but Rikugo/Kijin is…iffy. They've got similar personalities, but there is the age gap (Rikugo's old enough to be Kijin's dad!) and plus, Rikugo is too pretty to belong to anybody but me. (Wink)

Kiko812: Funny? Really? I never feel comfortable writing humor. Though I did expect someone to giggle at "assonance". You know what it means, right—the repetition of a vowel.

Lynn: Brownie points…and a brownie…for you! "Langston Hughes! To the stage! To Uta! To Buddha! Pablo Neruda too!" Only we can break into RENT while listening to an inspirational speaker!

**Side Note #1: **The Three of Swords (Tarot card): Peace that has been established cannot last. Sharp words, cutting ideas, and misconceptions have created pain and heartbreak. Hurtful words are going to be exchanged. Poisonous words and thoughts now come out into the open. No more waiting, obsessing, wondering, worrying. Either blood or poison can drip out, and the Querent can get on with their life.

**Side Note #2:** Tenko and Kijin do not have pupils. Ergo, I have decided they are blind. Instead of seeing things, they cast their energy about to get a mental picture in their head.

**Side Note #3:** The hindbrain controls motor skills.

**Side Note #4:** I'm up in the air whether or not cremation would be standard practice for Japanese dead in 1917. I'm pretty sure it's a Buddhist practice. Then again, I've seen stories set way back when in Japan where the dead are buried. Just go with being buried as the norm for the sake of the story.

**Side Note #5:** Matsushita says that Tsuzuki was born in Tokyo, but Tokyo isn't in Kyushu. Let's just pretend that Tsuzuki's family didn't stay in Tokyo, all right?

**Side Note #6:** Some new honorifics to explain.

"-_otouto_" Little brother

"-_nee_" Older sister

"-_koi_" and –_koishi_" Dear

**Side Note #7:** I just discovered a new Tsuzuki/Hisoka song! "Vincent – Starry, Starry Night" by Chloe Agnew (or Josh Groban, if you prefer). I think it's _supposed_ to be a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh, but just look at these lyrics: "Now I understand/What you tried to say to me/And how you suffered for your sanity/And how you tried to set them free/They would not listen/They did not know how/Perhaps they'll listen now/For they could not love you/And still your love was true/And when no hope was left inside/On that starry, starry night/You took your life/As lovers often do/But I could have told you, (fill in "Tsuzuki" for "Vincent")/This world was never meant for one as beautiful/As you."

Okay, enough side notes!

-IYOFQH, hping she got the definition of "juxtaposition" right...

* * *

Juxtaposition

* * *

The Kansei night sky was unusually clear, after weeks of clouds and fog. A pleasant breeze blew through the trees, swaying the trunks, branches, and leaves back and forth. The night was muggy but that was ignorable. To the Shikigami not gone abed, it was an opportunistic night for stargazing and relaxing.

Rikugo was one of those who had taken that opportunity. A more perfect night, an astrologer couldn't have asked for. A more perfect reading…that was something beggars had to be choosers about.

"What're you sighing for, Rikugo?" Seiryuu demanded gruffly at the startled little gasps of air Rikugo was emitting. "It's getting annoying."

"Father…" Kijin whispered warningly, exasperatedly.

Rikugo shot a glare at his arch-nemesis. "Thank you for that, oh cultured one," he hissed. "For your information, I'm getting a bad reading."

"Who's killing who this time?" Seiryuu snorted. "Touda and Suzaku already turned in for the night."

"It concerns our master and his fiancé," Rikugo snapped.

"Why, what's the matter?" Kijin asked, his voice taking on a panicked edge.

"A bad omen," Rikugo said, squinting up at the stars.

Kijin stood up and raised his hand perpendicular to the ground, palm facing to his left. His colorless eyes began to scintillate a pale yellow color, and words from ancient Japan spilled from his lip. Almost imperceptibly a slip of paper materialized between his index and middle fingers. His eyes returned to their pure white state and he held the card in front of his face. Blind to what it said, he concentrated his energy on it, allowing the message to flow into his mind.

"The Three of Swords," he said quietly, letting the slip fall to his feet and imperceptibly shatter into atoms.

* * *

"Do you think juxtaposition happens in real life?"

"Does _what_ happen in real life?" Tsuzuki asked, cocking his eyebrows in confusion.

"Juxtaposition," Hisoka repeated. "In literature, it's putting in appropriate objects for the mood. A scary setting requires a dark night. A happy one requires a sunny day. And today." Hisoka jerked his thumb towards the office window. "Dark clouds portending thunderstorms. That means," Hisoka said, noting Tsuzuki's glazed look, "that something bad is going to happen."

"Oh," Tsuzuki said, and Hisoka rolled his eyes at Tsuzuki's "I just caught on" look. "Well, I don't know, Hisoka. Kijin and Rikugo believe in signs, but…bad things can happen on a nice day just as easily as on a rainy one."

"Tsuzuki! Kurosaki! I need you in here yesterday!"

"Then again," Tsuzuki said, "if those clouds predicted a job, I think I'll stay home the next time there's a rainstorm."

"Slacker," Hisoka said, rising from the desk.

"Workaholic," Tsuzuki returned, also rising.

"TSUZUKI! KUROSAKI!"

"Coming!" they shouted back, twins in timing and different in tone.

"Took you long enough," Konoe growled as the pair walked in.

"Sorry," they said, once again in unison.

"Forget it," Konoe said, shaking his head as if it were painful for him to forgive them. "You've got a job."

"I figured," Tsuzuki said under his breath. Konoe ignored—or chose to ignore—it.

"Another magic user," Konoe said. "This guy's been studying dark magic for almost all his adult life. And that's been a long time. This guy's 102 years old."

"Are you serious?" Hisoka asked rhetorically. 102 years…that was ringing a loud, dangerous bell.

"Guess he really didn't want to let go," Konoe said, shrugging. "It's possible nowadays. He finally gave out a few days ago. Obviously, he hasn't reported for judging. Your job is to go get him, of course. He's taken to haunting an old Buddhist cemetery."

"What's this guy's name?" Tsuzuki asked. His throat was unnaturally dry. If he could attempt at swallowing it would have been laborious for him. Hisoka's head began to throb with the nervous energy emitting from his partner.

"Seika Shinji."

Seika Shinji.

Ruka's fiancé.

The one whose loss made Tsuzuki go insane.

Hisoka's head turned in a flash to face his partner. The shock of feelings forced him to step back.

Tsuzuki's face was drained of color, making his amethyst eyes stand out so much they almost looked to be protruding from their sockets. His hands were trembling visibly; one shakily raised itself to his face, and then immediately clamped down on his right wrist, squeezing to the point where the skin around it became dark pink with blood prevented from circulating. The throbbing in Hisoka's head worsened into a hammer-like pounding.

"What's the matter with you two?" Konoe asked, concernedly glancing back and forth between them.

"He's…someone I knew when I was alive," Tsuzuki said, his voice strangled but oddly clear. "Someone very…close to me."

"Oh, well…" Konoe stopped, floundering about his head for words.

"Excuse me," Tsuzuki said before either Konoe or Hisoka could make any further moves.

"Tsuzuki?" Konoe started, but Tsuzuki had already turned and strode out the door, almost slamming it behind him. The pain in Hisoka's head did not abate and he grabbed his temples with his hands, feeling as if his very brains were pulsing.

"Kurosaki, what's going on?" Konoe asked.

"Nothing, forget it," Hisoka said, waving his hand dismissively. He couldn't discuss this with him. He didn't even know if he could discuss this with Tsuzuki.

"Bull. Don't…"

"Please!" Hisoka shouted at him desperately, pressing his hands tighter against his head. "We'll get right on it. Tsuzuki…I have to go find him. I'm sorry, I have to go find him…!"

"Kurosaki!" Konoe yelled, reaching out a hand. But Hisoka had already teleported out of the office, frantically casting his mind about for Tsuzuki's spiritual energy trace. It was never difficult to find…never except now…he wasn't anywhere in Meifu. Not in Meifu…Chijou.

By the time Hisoka materialized in Chijou the sky had ripped open and rain came down in cold, gray sheets. People were clearing away, huddling under overhangs and umbrellas. Hisoka felt small beads showering down on him, plunking off his head and down his shirt. Hail. If that wasn't juxtaposition, nothing was.

A twinge in his mind made him whirl around, trying to locate the small beat of familiar emotion. Blinded by the small hailstones that seemed to be determined to fly into his eyes, he ran forward, splashing water with each footstep. The emotions he knew were Tsuzuki's were beginning to drum louder in his head, almost becoming part of his bloodstream and circulating through him.

Through the curtain of silver-gray rain he saw Tsuzuki's trademark black trench coat walking swiftly away.

"Tsuzuki!"

He didn't know Hisoka was there.

"Tsuzuki! Wait!"

He couldn't know Hisoka was there.

"Tsuzuki Asato, don't you _dare_ not answer me!"

Tsuzuki turned around suddenly, abruptly. "Hisoka…!"

He was cut off as Hisoka threw himself on him, catching him in a death grip he couldn't possibly break free from.

"Don't you even try!" Hisoka shrieked at him, digging his fingers into the black leather of Tsuzuki's coat. "I know you! I'm not going to let you disappear and wallow in guilt this time! If you take one step away from me, so help me _God_ I'll _maim_ you where you stand!"

Tsuzuki's mouth fell agape but no words came out, only a strangled gasp. Hisoka's brain was running circles around his skull but the whine of terror that Tsuzuki might do something drastic overpowered any instinct to pull away.

"Hisoka, I…I'm…"

"Hush!" Hisoka commanded, his voice raising, a tugging behind his eyes threatening to open the floodgates. "Just…be…be quiet, you…"

"I'm going to that graveyard," Tsuzuki said, his voice steady if not the rest of his body. Hisoka felt his hold inadvertently loosening as Tsuzuki shook in his grasp. The control Tsuzuki had on his words began to slip. "He thinks I killed her…how can I…? I can't…I have to…I can't, I have…he thinks I killed her…he thinks I killed her!"

"You…"

"I know I didn't!" Tsuzuki yelled, but the falter on his last word left Hisoka unconvinced. "But he knows I…he thinks I did. He knows it's my fault."

"D—n you!" Hisoka shrieked, rage catching up to panic and sorrow. "Stop it!" A distant memory of having his shoulders shaken cropped up blurrily in his semi-conscious and took over his hindbrain. He was shaking Tsuzuki much more weakly than he thought he was.

He was barely aware of Tsuzuki returning the steeled embrace as the rain poured down relentlessly, or of Tsuzuki finally realizing that said rain was drenching them both and half-dragging, half-walking Hisoka to shelter. The training was slightly helping; this display of emotion might otherwise have knocked Hisoka unconscious instead of clouding his mind to almost imperceptibility.

It took quite a long time of silence for them to speak again. Minutes felt like hours as Tsuzuki, characteristically, dragged them to a restaurant. All Hisoka could stomach was water. It was a testament to the situation that Tsuzuki only ordered a sandwich.

"What are we going to do?"

Tsuzuki looked up from his plate. Hisoka was sitting opposite him, hunched over as if trying to shield himself from icy wind on a freezing winter day, looking up through his bangs like a chastised child starting up a conversation to test forgiveness. A pang suddenly hit Tsuzuki—Hisoka must have struck this pose numerous times as a child.

"Tsuzuki."

"Um." Try as he might, another coherent thought couldn't pass through his mind and into his mouth. "Oh…"

"Are we going to that cemetery or aren't we?" Hisoka asked, his voice low and deliberately controlled. "You were heading there, weren't you?"

"I think I was," Tsuzuki said guiltily. "I know what Konoe-_kachou_ was talking about. It's where she—Ruka—was buried. When I was hospitalized my family sometimes drifted in to see me when I was lucid; they told me he went there a lot."

Hisoka made a noise in his throat. "Konoe-_kachou_ said that he's been studying dark magic. I think we have enough experience in that field to know not to underestimate it. But, he's also old as dirt. 102…that is a long effin' time."

"Yeah, I suppose it is. But then, we're magic-users, too."

The rationality of the conversation was insane.

"Tsuzuki, you don't have to go. I can handle this alone."

"Shinigami have to work together in pairs, remember?" Tsuzuki parroted back at him. "He won't want to leave that cemetery. He'll get violent. And besides, I…"

"What?" Hisoka asked.

"I…I should go," Tsuzuki said softly. "I mean, I know…I know I didn't kill her…and, and he should know that, too."

"Tsuzuki," Hisoka started, trying very hard to keep his Empathy under control. "Are you saying you didn't kill her because you honestly believe it, or because you know that's what I want you to say?"

Tsuzuki sighed. "I don't know. But I should…I should see him again. If he's hanging on because of her…or me…I should set him straight. It's my…responsibility."

"You're taking responsibility?" Hisoka mocked, desperate for some positive reaction. "Are you feeling ill?"

Tsuzuki gave a weak, watery smile. "Yeah, I know. I must be."

* * *

"It's cold."

"I know. It's dark, too."

"Yes, that's generally what happens when it becomes night."

"Snark."

"Is this the place?"

"…Yes."

The cemetery was small and, in the night atmosphere, appeared unkempt. The surrounding woods seemed to isolate it from the world. A separate island inhabited by corpses and mourners.

"There's an energy shield up," Hisoka said, allowing his Empathy to feel about for a few seconds before retracting it, hastily. "I can't feel anything beyond it." He stepped forward, holding a hand out, until he finally hit something solid and a ring of dazzling white light rippled out from his touch. He applied some pressure to it and was barely able to force his palm through. "It's tough."

"Who's there?" a voice yelled out suddenly, and a human shape rose from a kneeling position on the ground.

It was thin, almost emaciated-looking, with a shock of pepper-white hair. For such an immense age, the eyes were strong, black and narrow, and fixated on the two forms outside his shield.

"You."

Tsuzuki suddenly let out a cry. Hisoka whipped around to see Tsuzuki grasping his head, as if trying to crush his head in between his hands. His face was screwed up in anguish.

"Tsuzuki!" Hisoka reached out a hand to grab his partner but a sudden, numbing shock to his brain caused him to falter and nearly collapse. He could just barely see another tremor pass on the energy shield, and through his blurred vision he saw the white light expand and begin to cover Tsuzuki. Frenziedly he half-jumped, half-collapsed on Tsuzuki's arm, allowing it to wash over him.

"You've got no business here," a chilly voice said, and Hisoka knew Shinji was speaking directly to him. "It's him I want."

"How did you know he'd be here?" Hisoka shouted, his vision just barely starting to clear.

"I didn't," Shinji replied, his voice as ice. "But I should have expected it…monsters like him never die."

"I didn't murder my sister, Shinji!" Tsuzuki yelled.

"Liar," Shinji hissed mercilessly. His hands were cupped, and a small ball of black energy was beginning to form between his palms. "You killed her using this type of magic, didn't you."

"No…no, I didn't!"

"You _killed_ her…" The ball was beginning to grow. "You killed _her_…" Now it was roughly the size of a small globe. "_You_ killed her."

"N-no…No! I didn't kill Ruka!"

"Shut up!"

"Tsuzuki, watch out!"

Hisoka leapt; the pair of them crashed to the ground as the black ball crackling with purple, zigzag bolts of energy shot passed them with the force of a cannon ball. Hisoka rolled off Tsuzuki and stood up, then suddenly paused and looked back as something red and glistening caught his eye. He hadn't been quick enough; the magic had managed to catch Tsuzuki's hand and make it bleed. To Hisoka's horror, it didn't seem to be healing.

"Bit slow, aren't you?" Shinji jeered cuttingly. "Interesting study, black magic is. But then, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Asato? Isn't that how you turned those eyes that color?"

"N-no, I…I…" Tsuzuki couldn't force the words out of his mouth. A million things swirled in a tornado around his mind; nothing was passing through his voice box.

"What right do you have to condemn him?" Hisoka yelled, partly out of anger, partly out of trying to distract Shinji, partly out of trying to reach Tsuzuki. "You've learned it, too!"

"Of course I did," Shinji replied darkly. "I wanted to kill him with it. But he died before I got strong enough. Pity…but here's my second chance. When you stick with something for years, you never know when it'll come in handy…"

Hisoka conjured a fuda scroll and flung it at him. To his horror, it struck against another dome surrounding the target and shattered into nothingness.

"You must think I'm slow," Shinji drawled carelessly. "I may be old, but this magic does something to you. Heightens your senses, makes you age slower…but Asato would know all about that, too, wouldn't he?"

There was a sudden draining sensation inside Tsuzuki. A creeping coldness had been inching its way through his entire body since first seeing his would-have-been brother-in-law and know it had completely washed over him, numbing his mind. He could say nothing, could think of nothing except…

"_Murderer…"_ _Shinji's usually small eyes had widened as he took in the scene. Tsuzuki standing by his sister's dead body, sitting primly against the wall with a gaping hole in her chest and blood slowly, steadily running out. A cut in her forehead made the red liquid drip down her face through her open eyes, devoid of pupils, and her mouth, lips drained of color and slightly parted as if still struggling for breath._

_Tsuzuki stumbled backwards and hit the floor, barely avoiding landing on the shredded bodies of the two demons he had slaughtered, as Shinji, in a daze, walked forward, deliberately and slowly, and knelt down in front of Ruka. He took her in his arms and cradled her against his torso. Her arm did not reach to touch his face as it usually might; her head that was normally held proudly erect fell backwards, limp on her neck. Her Asian skin had paled to that of the most house-bound Caucasian woman. Blood continued to course progressively out of her._

"_Murderer…" Shinji whispered hoarsely, not looking up. "You killed her…you killed your own sister!"_

"_I…I…" Tsuzuki stammered, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene before him. His hand brushed against broken flesh of one of the demon. Suddenly it hit him like a brick to the face. "I…killed them, I…killed her."_

_His hands crawled at the floor of the house as he desperately tried to stand up. He had barely succeeded when his legs started running, through the open door, past the people who had come running and were now yelling, "Asato, what's wrong?", past the houses, past the town. It was as if he was small again and the bullies were chasing him with sticks and stones again, except now he was alone and his own guilt was chasing him._

'_I murdered my own sister…'_

"Tsuzuki, stop it!" Hisoka shrieked, not daring to move any closer to Tsuzuki lest he collapse, unconscious. Everything Tsuzuki was remembering he was remembering too: the color of Ruka's blood and skin, the flaccidity of her body as Shinji moved her, the frantic escape, the unadulterated hatred of Shinji.

"You're really annoying, you know that?" Shinji yelled at Hisoka, and the shock of both past and present hatred sent Hisoka backwards several paces. Tsuzuki was still on the ground, his eyes wide open but unseeing, sweat and tears running down his face. Hisoka moved forward but before he had taken two steps he crashed against something that blinded him. Another energy shield.

"You can't get past that," Shinji yelled. "You're gonna watch my revenge like this is a spectator sport, kid!"

"Tsuzuki!" Hisoka screamed, futilely pounding on the energy shield. "Wake up! WAKE UP!"

_"Asato-otouto, get your lazy bum out of bed! It's already past 9 o'clock. You have to come help me clean the house."_

"_Ruka-nee, I don't wanna…"_

"_Then I guess I'll have to enjoy all this candy by myself…."_

"_Really? We have candy? Then I'll wake up!"_

"Seika Shinji, what the _h—l_ are you doing to my little brother?"

There is a moment when it feels like time stops and all the air vanishes and one is suspended in space, and then a sudden rush of energy breaks the spell and you fall back to Earth with a sickening thud.

Both men turned at the sound of the voice. Shinji crumpled to the ground, his eyes unblinking. The shield around Tsuzuki fell away.

Standing where Hisoka had been was Tsuzuki Ruka, in all her 19-year-old glory.

"My!" she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "A girl dies for 83 years and comes back to find her brother and fiancé trying to kill each other."

"Ruka?" was spoken simultaneously, both mean's voices as twins.

"In the flesh!" Ruka smiled. There was a certain brilliance in her smile. "Well, in this guy's flesh," she amended, slapping her leg. "You've got a powerful partner here, Tsuzuki. Not many people can summon the dead after only a month of training."

"How did you…?"

"Divine knowledge," Ruka said solemnly, and then grinned again. "No, really. Didn't he tell you? Summoning the dead is like being possessed. I can see his memories. Well, the surface ones, anyway. His present thoughts. Hmm…can't hang around long. He's an Empath, I see. So." She clapped her hands, professionally. "Let's get down to business."

With a certain deliberate air she walked forward, towards Shinji. He stilled stared at her, mouth agape.

"Shinji-_koishi_," she said upon reaching him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "102 years? When people wished us longevity, I don't think they meant _quite_ that long. But I suppose you were making up for me."

"Ruka-_koi_…"

"And that reminds me. Magic-using? At your age? I think I preferred smoking as your vice. Did you ever quit, by the way?"

"After you…" He seemed too astonished to speak.

"After I died?" Ruka finished for him. "It took my heart being shot out of my chest to make you give up smoking? You sure know how to make a girl feel loved."

She knelt down, her hands still on his shoulders, and looked him square in the face.

"You know, you can get your young body back. I'm not going to be engaged to a decrepit old man for the rest of eternity!"

"Ruka-_koi_…" Shinji put his hands on her shoulders, as well. He looked dumbstruck, as if trying to convince himself what he saw was a hallucination, a trick, even as he desperately wanted to believe in its verity.

"You're dead, aren't you? And here you are brawling with my brother instead of joining me in Heaven. And especially when he never raised a hand against me!"

"But…"

"I suppose you missed the dead demons, Shinji-_koishi_. From what I'm gathering from this guy, they killed me, he killed them, and you walked in on it all at the wrong moment. But honestly, Shinji-_koishi_. The kid worshipped the ground I walked on. Does it even make sense that the thought of killing me would ever enter into his brain? And even if it _is_ all his fault—which it's not, by the way—I want you to forgive and forget so you can come to Heaven with me. Or, you can stay here and be stubborn about it."

"Ruka-_koi_, I…I…"

"You can't even finish your sentences! You never were the sharpest knife in the kitchen."

But her voice softened as she spoke, and she put her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his.

"83 years, Shinji-_koishi_? 83 years of missing me, and hating Asato-_otouto_? You fool." She leaned up and kissed the top of his head, and then moved back into position. "You complete and utter fool."

There was a long moment, a reunification of lovers after decades of separation that had nursed an abiding hatred and loneliness.

"Now, get to Meifu and get judged," Ruka said quietly, almost adding to the small peace they had created instead of breaking it with her words, "so you can be in Heaven with me."

"Ruka-_koi_…"

"Hush," Ruka said authoritatively. "You can explain it all after you're properly dead." She gave him a kiss on the lips, and then a playful, loving wink. "I'll be waiting up. Now go on! Getting going! Now! Go!"

She took his hand and squeezed it, and as her grip tightened his form and color began to find into obscurity, until her fingers were curled into her palm and any trace of him was left only in memory.

"But I do love the little fool," Ruka said with an affectionate sigh, rising to her feet. "And speaking of little fools…" She turned around to face Tsuzuki. "What? Your sister shows up after 83 years and she doesn't get a hug?"

"Ruka-_nee_…" He was still on the ground, staring up at her face as if he still couldn't believe she was there.

"I guess I'll have to do it myself," she said resignedly, marching over to her brother, plopping down on her knees, and tossing her arms around his shoulders.

"Ruka-_nee_…" Tsuzuki whispered, his hands shaking as he reached to hug her back. That tangible feel of her was almost surreal; her work-roughened skin, her coarse black hair, the warmth of her skin, and the power of her aura. "Ruka-_nee_, Ruka-_nee_."

"Asato-_otouto_, I have to go soon. I'm draining him…your fiancé. Sorry, he let that thought escape accidentally." Tsuzuki twitched a little. "Now, why should I worry if he's a guy, too? You deserve some love after all the s—t you've been put through. I'm just sorry I can't be at your wedding."

"Ruka-_nee_, I'm sorry I never got to see yours…"

Ruka tightened her embrace. "Now you stop blaming yourself for that, you hear? It wasn't your fault. And thank you for avenging me. You were the best little brother anyone could ask for, albeit a bit lazy. And speaking of my wedding, I'll give my groom a proper scolding when I see him. Though, it _is_ flattering to have a man who wants to avenge your death 83 years later. Oh, dash it all, look what you did, Asato-_otouto_! You've gone and made me cry."

Tsuzuki breath caught in his throat and he buried his face in the crook of her neck and shoulder.

"You go and get married and you be happy, okay? No breaking bread, right?"

"Right," Tsuzuki whispered brokenly.

"Then I'll see you later," Ruka finished softly, pressing her lips against his cheek. Like Shinji, her shape and color began to fade away until all that was left was Hisoka leaning against Tsuzuki.

"Hisoka…"

With a soft moan Hisoka slumped, losing consciousness. Tsuzuki's grip tightening on him was the last thing he was aware of.

* * *

Hisoka's eyes opened, and then blinked to clear his vision. He was staring at the blue-tinted white tiles of the infirmary.

"Hisoka?" A form stirred beside him on the hospital bed.

Hisoka ran his hand over his face. "What…what happened?"

"Shinji passed on," Tsuzuki said quietly. "Ruka went back to Heaven."

"Good." He looked toward Tsuzuki. "Are you okay?"

"No."

Hisoka reached his hand up. Tsuzuki took it and pressed it against his face, resting his head against it.

"How long have I been out?"

"Hours," Tsuzuki answered. The clock read sometime in the AM hours. "I brought you here."

Hisoka had the feeling that watching over him was what kept Tsuzuki from breaking down. "Thanks."

"Well, I couldn't just leave you there. You passed out in my arms."

"Yeah…I think she planned it that way."

"It would be just like her to do that."

Hisoka moved a little to allow Tsuzuki to lie down next to him.

"She hasn't changed at all," Tsuzuki said with a half-laugh. "She's something, isn't she? No one could ever say "no" to her; she wouldn't let them. I used to tease her that _she_ proposed to Shinji and then answered for him. She was one of those people you thought could never die…"

Hisoka put his arm around Tsuzuki. "Why aren't you crying?"

"You already fainted once today."

"It's harder on me when you bottle it up," Hisoka said. "With and without the Empathy."

Tsuzuki choked. He grabbed the side of Hisoka face and kissed him, tears streaking down his cheeks and dampening the pillow.

"She forgave me."

"You deserve it," Hisoka asserted.

"She forgave me," Tsuzuki repeated, as if not hearing him. "But she's still dead."

"I can channel her at any time."

Tsuzuki shook his head fiercely. "No…it's not the same. I still lost her." His left hand clamped down on his right wrist. "These scars are never going to go away, but she did." He grip tightened to where his skin was beginning to grow dark pink. "She left me. I never left her, but she left me."

"Tsuzuki…" Hisoka's voice cracked like glass.

"You aren't going to leave, too, are you?" Tsuzuki whispered, his voice as a starving beggar's. "You're not going to die, too, right? I could bear it if you hated me but not if you went away…I can't stand to lose anyone else that I love."

"Tsuzuki, I'm not going anywhere," Hisoka assured hoarsely. Tears stung dangerously at his own eyes. "As long as I can help it, I'm not going anywhere."

"Don't…please don't ever…" Tsuzuki clung to Hisoka's clothes like a frightened child.

"_It's different now. He needs my strength now."_

"_I suppose he does. However—and this is just an outsider's opinion, Kurosaki-san—he needs your weakness, as well."_

Hisoka frowned. His yesterday conversation with the Count…why now?

A sudden glint caught his eyes between the slats of the Venetian blinds on the window. A gray sky as the morning rose, a pale white sun peeping through cracks and then disappearing behind the condensed water that was clouds. A sudden chill settled onto the room. Hisoka shivered and pulled Tsuzuki closer to him as he continued to weep.

Yawns, laughter, and tears are contagious.

* * *

So...forgive me for last chapter? ...Please...? 


	8. Domestic Strife

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yami no Matusei

**Background Information #1:** "The war" refers to the war between Seiryuu and Kurikara. Since Touda was imprisoned for years, and Kurikara lost, I'm assuming he was on Kurikara's side.

**Background Information #2:** In the Kyoto arc, Anime-Tatsumi said, "This is Touda!" But in the manga, he never said it was Touda who had caused the fire. So we're going with the manga on this one, okay?

**Shout-outs:**

Kiko812: Well, I didn't _hate_ chapter 6, but I think it was my worse. And thank you very much for the compliment. People don't handle Tsuzuki's past well? YnM fanfiction is really good…but maybe that's just by comparison to other fandoms… 

Lynn: Actually, you spelled "sequence" correctly. It was "encouragement" you spelled wrong. (Wink) Good muffin basket joke. (Wink again)

Stratus5: (Blush. Glomp)

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: Yay! You think I'm good again! (Happy dance) Now you see why I had Hisoka learn Illusory Magic? (Wink) You know, I initially imagined Ruka to be somewhat like Tsuzuki and have a quiet kind of power, but when I pre-wrote the chapter in my binder she turned into the bit of a spitfire she was in that chapter, and I just went with it. I love how no one can finish their sentences around her, but she adores them all and they adore her in return. So of course Ruka would give Tsuzuki her blessing. She loves the kid. I've lately gotten into the whole brother-sister dynamic, ever since we read Catcher In The Rye in my English class (Contemplates parallels between Ruka-Tsuzuki and Phoebe-Holden. Decides Phoebe-Holden is more like Cathy-Trowa from Gundam Wing…).

For your questions…1) Do you really want to be spoiled? I'll let you know now that I'm only 88 percent sure of who it is. But if you really want to be spoiled, let me know in your review. 2) "Seiryuu" and "Sohryuu" are the same person. I have been spelling his name the first way since forever, and have actually been led to believe the second way is incorrect. I'm not quite sure at the moment, but I'm going to stick with my original spelling, if only because I like it better. 3) Odd pairings are invented by odd people. A psychologist would have a field day with the people I hang out with. At least we didn't come up with Byakko/Touda. Yes, someone _has_ written that and _yes_, it does sound oddly intriguing. 4) "IYOFQH" is the initials of my pen name. "Snark" means someone who is very sarcastic. 5) "Juxtaposition" and "Deus ex machina" are literary terms. Juxtaposition is the placement of appropriate objects for the setting. Deus ex machina is a plot point cop-out; a solution that is too convenient to be plausible.

Hikari Tsuki Chi: Yes, that line was actually a shout-out to one of my reviewers. And about "Gensoukai"…I'd seen that name around the fandom but at the time didn't know what it was. However, "Kansei" is a place name in Gensoukai—either the city or the region—so I just referred to it.

Aacire: Thank you!

**Side Note #1:** Adrenaline is a hormone located in your adrenal glands (they're so original, aren't they?). They prompt "fight-or-flight" in frightening situations.

**Side Note #2:** "Crimson liquid iron" is blood.

**Side Note #3:** I hope you all know where to feel for a pulse.

**Side Note #4:** Despite any beliefs this chapter may generate, _you are_ _not going to see any sex scenes between Tsuzuki and Hisoka._ (Readers: "What? No sex?" _Many readers leave_) I was totally uncomfortable writing the innuendos, and they weren't even perverted—they were _serious_. Also, Tsuzuki plus Hisoka plus fantastic sex life equals WTF in my book. A guy whose self-esteem is so low that he's attempted suicide at least twice, thrown in with a guy who couldn't stand to be touched even platonically for most of his life and whose only experience with sex was a brutal rape that killed him three years later…yeah, _they're_ gonna have a fantastic love life, _sure_.

Now a lot of you are probably going "WTF? They're getting married, aren't they? Married people make love all the time!" _That_ is just going to have to wait for a couple more chapters. Right now my plans call for about 14 or 15 chapters, and you'll get the answer in either the last or first to last chapter.

* * *

Domestic Strife

* * *

"Eileen? It's me…call me back when you get this message."

"_I thought you took this as seriously as I did."_

"Eileen, please stop avoiding me. Call me back."

"_I can't believe you think it isn't good enough."_

"Maria, can you put Eileen on the phone?"

"Eileen is…hold on…Eileen says she's too busy."

_"I waited for you for all those years! I gave up Heaven for you! And you…"_

"Eileen, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

_"You say it isn't good enough…"_

* * *

"C—p, we fell asleep," Hisoka muttered, glaring at the clock on the wall as he sat up in the infirmary bed.

"For, like, a half hour," Tsuzuki said, burying his face in the pillow. "It's six-thirty in the morning. Relax for once."

Hisoka glared, but it soon turned half-hearted and he begrudgingly settled back onto the bed.

"I didn't say this before…thank you," Tsuzuki murmured, leaning his forehead against Hisoka's.

"Hmm? What for?"

"I got to see my sister again because of you."

"Well, I was trying to save our lives at the time, but…"

"Mm." Tsuzuki intoned, halfway between a chuckle and a sigh. "She just had…has…this power about her. She can suck you in. She's the exact opposite of me."

"No. You pull people in, too."

"I meant personality-wise," Tsuzuki amended, though Hisoka felt a little twinge of a hasty cover-up. "I don't know…do you remember anything of what happened?"

"A little bit."

"Maybe you felt it…she just has this strength about her. I really do adore her, Hisoka. She has this capacity to love that I never thought anyone could have."

"It runs in the family," Hisoka said.

"Yeah, but she's more forceful about it," Tsuzuki said, with a fond laugh. He cupped Hisoka's face. "You accidentally let out a thought that we're engaged while you were possessed by her. And you know what she said? She said she didn't care that we're both guys; she said she was happy for me. Don't know about you, Hisoka, but where I grew up they weren't very accepting of that kind of thing. And she never got out of that environment at all…she was just always like that."

"I'd never have known either way, what my environment was like," Hisoka said, more of a way to keep them from plunging into silence.

Tsuzuki pulled in closer to Hisoka and took his fiancé's hand with his free one. "You know, memory can be a miserable thing," he whispered.

"I know. You and I know better than anyone."

"Sometimes…I really hate having memories of her. I get to wishing she's here now to bug me about helping her clean the house. It was so hard to lose her…I meant what I said, Hisoka." His voice cracked. "I really won't be able to bear it if you leave, too…"

"You're such a simpleton," Hisoka mocked gently. "I told you, I won't leave willingly. I can't speak for circumstances…but I'll stay as long as I can."

"I sense a little dig in there," Tsuzuki said, with a funny, sad sort of humor. "All my promises I can't keep…"

"And people would think _I_ ruin moments," Hisoka muttered, but not unkindly. "I wasn't thinking of that…it's just how I am…"

Tsuzuki gave a short laugh, with at least an attempt at veritable mirth. "Allow me to unruin it."

"That's not even a word."

"It is now," Tsuzuki insisted with the stubbornness of a child. He dug his fingers into the folds of Hisoka's hair and pulled his head in closer to kiss him. After a few seconds he still didn't let go, and instead intensified the kiss.

Hisoka's face screwed up a little but there was some sort of weakness in his bones.

'It's Tsuzuki…it's just Tsuzuki…' 

Tsuzuki's arms snaked around the small of Hisoka's back and pulled him against himself. There was a wild, adrenaline-fueled thumping in Hisoka's chest and throat. He was being pressured onto his back; Tsuzuki was on top of him…

_Trapped can't get free let go let go let go please let go please I'm begging you begging you please let go no stop it no please stop please no_

'It's just Tsuzuki…it's my partner, my fiancé…he's not…he's not _him_…'

Tsuzuki's hand moved up to Hisoka's neck and it took all his self-control not to scream.

_Hands around my neck can't scream can't breathe taste of iron crimson liquid iron running down my throat out my mouth vomiting choking on blood_

"Tsuzuki…!"

Hisoka pulled back into the pillow with a shuddering gasp. Tsuzuki's hand was still on his neck. It took what felt like minutes to realize Tsuzuki's index and middle fingers were pressed against his skin underneath his jaw line.

"Your pulse is racing," Tsuzuki said softly.

"I'm sorry," Hisoka apologized impulsively. "I'm so sorry…"

"No." Tsuzuki wrapped his hands around Hisoka's skull and kissed the top of his head. "_I'm_ sorry."

"But I…"

"But nothing." Hisoka seemed so…Tsuzuki couldn't place his finger on an adjective. His already unnaturally white skin had paled, as if all the blood inside him had evaporated into thin air. The breath passing in and out of his slightly parted lips was shuddery and disciplined, unnaturally controlled yet bordering on hysterical. And his eyes…the abnormal shade of green that graced his pupils stood out even more protuberantly against his blanched face than was usual, and the light reflecting in them was the sheen of terror.

So…pale, and…weak, and frightened, and disgusted…with himself.

"I promised I'd exceed him," Hisoka murmured.

"You will."

"How can I do that," Hisoka whispered, his voice on the edge of breaking, "when I can barely stand to let my own fiancé touch me?"

Silence. And then…

"I'm touching you," Tsuzuki said teasingly, poking Hisoka's nose.

"You're a moron, do you know that?" Hisoka shot at him, with just a trace of a sad smile.

"I'm touching you," Tsuzuki repeated determinedly, poking Hisoka's shoulder.

"Stop it."

"I'm touching you." A poke to Hisoka's side. "I'm touching you." His stomach. "I'm touching you." His forehead.

A snort. Something like a chuckle, something similar to a laugh.

"And now I'm…tickling you!"

"Stop it!" Hisoka squirmed as Tsuzuki's fingers wiggled their way over his neck and arms. His life in the basement had not only lightened his skin but also made it overly sensitive, which was a source of never-ending amusement for Tsuzuki whenever the rare opportunity presented itself to render Hisoka no different than a ticklish 6-year-old girl.

Tsuzuki grinned and let his hands relax on the sides of Hisoka's face, letting their eyes gaze into each other's. Slowly he planted a chaste, undemanding kiss on Hisoka's lips and then rested on top of Hisoka, touching their foreheads. Hisoka's hand gripped Tsuzuki's sleeve as if gripping his panic and preventing it from rising by sheer strength of will.

"We'll get there," Tsuzuki whispered. "We'll figure out a way. We promised we'd exceed him. The two of us, remember?"

There was some unnatural ball of dryness lodged in Hisoka's throat that made answering difficult. "Ye…s…"

* * *

It's amazing how things get back to normal after a couple days. Tsuzuki and Hisoka had vacated the Infirmary that same day and returned home. Hisoka went back to work the next day, and Tsuzuki 24 hours after him. The stillness and quiet of Tsuzuki's home was enough to drive them both batty. If too much thought had ever exploded into not enough, it was now.

So it came as somewhat of a shock to Hisoka when Tsuzuki turned to him and said, "You know, we've still got a wedding to plan." Hisoka had nodded dumbly, Tsuzuki had bit his lip, and both of them had cried until they laughed, or at least attempted to.

Wakaba sat in the revolving chair at her desk, humming the latest love song under her breath and swinging her legs merrily as she typed in the coordinates to the Suzaku Gate. Tsuzuki and Hisoka stood a few feet behind her, watching. Terazuma, for some reason he did not deem fit to explain, was leaning against the wall, his one leg propped up against it, nursing a cigarette.

Pressing the Enter key, Wakaba pushed the chair back on its wheels and cleared the way for the Tengu.

"Hiya!" Wakaba offered cheerily, waving her hand at the twins. "Tsuzuki and Hisoka are scoping out Tenkuu for the wedding, and I'm popping in to see where I'm officiating. So can you guys keep the Gate open? Hajime's here to keep you company."

"Kannuki, I am _not_—"

"We probably won't be very long," Wakaba continued, undaunted and as if uninterrupted. "I'll send forth a summons for when it's over."

"Sure thing," Kotaro said, giving her a thumbs-up and a wink. Wakaba grinned giddily, and the unguarded Hisoka felt a little pulse of jealousy coming from the chain-smoker against the wall.

"Well, come on, you two," Wakaba said, gesturing for Tsuzuki and Hisoka to follow her. "We'll be back soon, Hajime!" She called over to her partner. He grunted in response as she, Tsuzuki, and Hisoka disappeared into the vortex.

"She's a sweet thing," Kotaro commented as the forms disappeared. "There aren't many girls like her in Kansei."

"There aren't many like her in Meifu, either," Terazuma growled.

"Oh, and you'd know this…how?"

"Because I live in this rat hole, that's how," Terazuma said, agitatedly tossing out his half-finished cigarette and lighting up another one.

"That's bad for your health, you know."

Terazuma snorted. "I'm already dead, remember?"

"Well, it must be a source of annoyance to Wakaba-_chan_, then."

Terazuma's ear twitched at the term of endearment. He grunted in response.

"She tells me that the smoke smell stays in her hair for days, even after she showers," Kotaro added carelessly. "You really don't think of her a lot, do you?"

"Watch it, bud," Terazuma snapped, incensed, the color of his face bordering on livid.

"I meant no disrespect," Kotaro amended smoothly. "I was just stating an opinion."

Terazuma's nostrils flared. "Yeah, well, keep your opinions to yourself. No one asked for them."

"As you wish," Kotaro said placidly. "Then perhaps you'd settled for some news?"

"Whatever."

"How about the news that Wakaba and I have a date on Sunday?"

"You…you WHAT!"

Kotaro mocked wiping his face. "I see how it is. I give you the news; you give me the weather."

"Why would she go out with _you_!" Terazuma raged, his cigarette dropping to the ground.

"Well, because I asked her," Kotaro said, looking at Terazuma as if he had answered a simple arithmetic problem wrongly. "There's no law against it, is there?"

"Is this true, Kojiro?" Terazuma demanded of the darker twin.

Kojiro stared at him and bit his lip.

"I can't believe this!"

* * *

"I can't believe this!"

Hisoka threw down the pen he was using in agitation and disgust. A bright streak of red flames soared over the tent under which he, Tsuzuki, and several other Shikigami were planning.

"This is the third time! What are they even fighting about?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure," Rikugo answered apologetically. "I think they fight on principle now."

"Tsuzuki, can't you do something with them?" Hisoka importuned. "They're _your_ Shiki!"

"Believe me, if I could have stopped them long ago, I would have," Tsuzuki said, with the tone of one who has accepted defeat.

"Well, can you at least get them to be civil for five minutes?" Hisoka demanded tensely.

"Tsuzuki, I'm afraid they're going to set this place on fire," Wakaba added, small-like. "And I don't want to officiate somewhere that smells like a crematorium."

Tsuzuki sighed and stood up from the table. "I'll see what I can do…"

"That's the spirit," Hisoka commented dully, noting the reluctance in Tsuzuki's demeanor. Tsuzuki made a face and then trudged around the corner.

"Why are they fighting, anyway?" Wakaba asked.

"Well, they've never gotten along," Rikugo explained. "They were on opposite sides of the war to begin with, and I guess they haven't let the old grudges slide."

"There's more to that and you know it, Rikugo," Taimou said, her words unusually calm for her words.

"Taimou…" Rikugo said warningly, sneaking a guarded glance at Hisoka that, unfortunately, did not go unnoticed.

"What is it?" Hisoka asked, glancing questioningly back and forth between the two of them.

"Oh, for pity's sake, he was _there_, Rikugo," Taimou said blandly, and then turned her attention to Hisoka. "Touda tried to kill Tsuzuki in Kyoto, and Suzaku still hasn't gotten over it."

"Subtle as always, Taimou," Rikugo said, looking pitifully at a flabbergasted Hisoka. "You never knew, Hisoka?"

"No, I never…no one ever told me."

"Tsuzuki's own Shiki tried to kill him?" Wakaba asked, her eyes wide.

"Tsuzuki summoned him for that purpose," Taimou explained. "This was a year and a half ago; you remember?"

"I'd just heard it was a job gone wrong…not that Tsuzuki tried to kill himself!" Wakaba's eyes hadn't yet reduced to their natural state.

"He's since recovered," Taimou said, not without a trace of misgiving. "Hopefully."

"Yes, hopefully," Hisoka muttered, both sarcasm and hidden concern in his voice.

"Suzaku has always loved Tsuzuki best out of all of us," Taimou continued. "She sees him as a younger brother in need of her protection. So after Touda nearly killed him, you can imagine how upset she was."

"And she hasn't gotten over it yet," Hisoka stated.

"I really doubt she ever will. It doesn't help that Touda doesn't appear to take her seriously."

"He sounds like a jerk," Wakaba said righteously, her cheeks burning.

Hisoka blinked. "I think that's the most unforgiving speech I've ever heard come from you."

"Rest assured that Suzaku shares your sentiments," Taimou said, with a trace of the smile. "What I find downright amusing is that Touda is…shall I say…"crushing on her, wicked hard", as Byakko profoundly enlightened me the other day."

"Isn't that just typical," Hisoka muttered, scratching his pen against his paper.

"Aren't you upset about this?" Wakaba asked, turning to face him.

Hisoka made no answer, but his grip on his pen seemed to tighten and he bit down on his bottom lip. Wakaba stared at his hand and made no comment. A very pregnant silence reigned over the small group.

"If you'll excuse me," Taimou said suddenly, standing up. "I have a little advice for Tsuzuki in dealing with those two hotheads." If she had a visible face, Hisoka, Wakaba, and Rikugo would have seen a scheming smirk.

"Oh, that doesn't sound good," Rikugo moaned. "She's devious, that one."

True to Rikugo's prediction, a loud squawk of "WHAT?" soared over the skies of the general vicinity a few minutes. From the horizon came Tsuzuki, walking unusually quickly.

"What happened? Hisoka asked as Tsuzuki retook his seat next to him.

"Taimou offered an idea," Tsuzuki said, "that we should force Suzaku and Touda to be each other's dates to the wedding."

"She WHAT?" Hisoka yelped, standing up. "And you took her up on this?"

"Don't hurt me!" Tsuzuki whimpered, covering the top of his head with his arms. "_Believe_ me, I thought the same thing as you, but then Taimou pointed out…"

"…that it would force them to behave around each other," Taimou filled in, coming up behind him. "Think of it as punishment of spoiled children being bratty," she advised. "I personally think it amusing, but I doubt that would fly with other people."

"Crematorium, here we come…" Wakaba whispered under her breath.

* * *

"Is there a reason why you never told me about Touda?"

"What?"

Tsuzuki and Hisoka had been abandoned. Rikugo had taken Wakaba into Tenkuu to show her where she would be officiating, and Taimou had gone off, presumably to reason with Suzaku and Touda, but more likely to have a hidden snicker on their expense.

"In Kyoto," Hisoka elaborated. "Taimou told me that you summoned Touda to kill yourself."

"Oh."

"Did it slip your mind or something?"

"No…well, sort of," Tsuzuki admitted. "I didn't want to bring it up, so I kinda…made myself forget about it."

"Why?"

"Well I…I guess I…didn't want you to hate him. Touda. He's already got enough hate directed at him from the Shiki; he doesn't need it from Meifu, too."

"What is this war Rikugo was talking about?"

"Oh…it was a revolution years ago," Tsuzuki began. "A Shiki named Kurikara wanted to take over Gensoukai. Touda was on his side. Seiryuu stood up to them and won. Kurikara was banished to the Fuyuu Desert and they locked Touda up inside Tenkuu. I came along years later and let Touda out and took him on as my Shiki. But sometimes I think that was a mistake. It's not that he's an awful person or anything," Tsuzuki quickly fixed, "he's actually really loyal and great to have in a pinch. But…it's not like anyone's forgotten what happened and they treat him like c—p."

"Believe me. It's better to be where everyone hates you than to be where nobody know that you exist. At least you learn to deal with it after awhile."

Hisoka was looking off into the distance, chewing on his bottom lip. Tsuzuki slid his hand across the table and covered Hisoka's with it. Hisoka looked down at the two hands, and then up at Tsuzuki's face.

"You're where you're wanted, Hisoka."

"Yeah. I know." He snorted. "It would be nice if they could see me now…Nagare and Rui…my "parents". The looks on their faces…"

Tsuzuki remained silent, unsure of how to answer. Hisoka kept staring off into the distance.

"But anyway," Hisoka said suddenly, turning his attention back to his fiancé.

"Oh, um, yeah," Tsuzuki said, trying to recover his thought processes. "Are…are you angry that I didn't tell you it was him?"

Hisoka shrugged. "Not really. We've had a year and a half to deal with it. And you did summon him for that purpose; it's not his fault. _You_ were the idiot in that situation, not him."

Tsuzuki scowled. "Thanks."

"You _were_."

"Yeah, I know," Tsuzuki sighed, squeezing Hisoka's hand.

"Hey!" Wakaba was jogging towards them, her arm raised. "Rikugo just showed me the spot and it's _gorgeous_. And we'll have no problem fitting everyone in."

"That's good." Hisoka stood up. "We should head back home now."

"Yeah, we should," Tsuzuki concurred.

Wakaba whipped out a fuda scroll and smiled. "Come on, let's away!"

* * *

"Kotaro, Kojiro, where did Hajime go?"

"Oh, he left quite a while ago," Kotaro said, a tad flippantly. "In a bit of a huff, actually."

"Why?" Wakaba asked, full of unworthy suspicions.

"We'd better go," Tsuzuki said, taking Hisoka's elbow and pulling him away. "I have a bad feeling about this."

The pair's short journey of a few feet away was rewarded by an outrage shriek of "You WHAT?" and an orange-haired whirlwind blowing past them.

"What did you do?" Hisoka asked, turning to the two brothers.

"Oh, just told Terazuma-_san_ a white lie," Kotaro said mischievously.

"Or a ploy," Kojiro added, almost silently.

"Kota_ro_, what did you tell him?" Tsuzuki demanded.

"Oh, just that Wakaba-_chan_ and I were pursuing a…shall I say…romantic relationship."

Tsuzuki face-faulted. "WHAT? Why would you do that?"

"To make Terazuma-_san_ jealous," Kojiro offered, just as quietly as before. "It's just a plot my brother cooked up."

"Lying like that is pretty pathetic," Hisoka condemned.

"Well, his self-induced shyness is even more pathetic," Kotaro sniffed defensively. "And so is his ignorance. If he listened at all he would know that Wakaba and I have no chance of a romantic involvement."

"And why's that?"

* * *

"Hajime! Hajime, wait up!"

"Kannuki, shouldn't you be with your boyfriend?" Terazuma snarled, his teeth grinding into the cigarette he wasn't so much smoking as he was chewing into small bits of paper and tobacco.

"Hajime, Kotaro is _not_ my boyfriend." Wakaba ran in front of Terazuma on the stairs and spread her arms out wide.

"Bulls—t. Why should I believe that? He _told_ me, Kannuki!"

"Hajime!" Wakaba's face was turning an indignant pink. "You're such an ignoramus! I can't believe, after all these years of being my partner and seeing me with him, that you don't know!"

"What? I don't know what? What don't I know, Kannuki, huh?"

"Hajime! Kotaro is _gay_!"

The cigarette fell out of Terazuma's mouth.

"He's what?"

"_Gay_. G-A-Y. I don't know _how_ many times I've talked to him about guys he's liked! If you'd have paid attention _at all_ over the past decade, you would know that!" A resentful film of tears began filling up in her eyes.

"He's…he's…he likes guys…" Terazuma's eyes, widened with shock, suddenly narrowed. A patented Terazuma Rant™ was in order. "Jeez! Is _everyone_ in this precinct gay? This is demographically impossible!"

"Watch your tone," Wakaba snapped huffily. "And in case you haven't noticed, _I'm_ not gay."

A hush fell over the stairwell. Terazuma took out his pack of cigarettes, then thought better of it and put them back in his pocket.

"Not even a little bit?"

"Not even a little bit."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Another silence reigned supreme over the small area. Wakaba wiped at her eyes.

"Look, I'm…sorry for yelling at you," Terazuma said, his teeth itching to grind at a cigarette.

"No, I'm sorry," Wakaba said, her face softening. "I was yelling, too. And you're not an ignoramus. You're just…a tough, silent loner."

"Thanks, I guess."

A third quiet invaded the room.

"Hajime?"

"What?"

"Would you…be my date to the wedding? The reception, I mean, since I'm officiating?"

"Your date?"

"Yeah."

"Well…sure, I guess…yes, I guess, sure."

"Good…Thanks."

"Ah, h—l." Terazuma practically ripped his pants pocket out going for his cigarettes. "'Scuse me…!" He darted past her, lighting up a cigarette as he went.

Wakaba touched a hand to her mouth, and then turned to look up the stairs at Terazuma's trajectory.

"Did that just happen…?"

* * *

"Well, today was certainly interesting," Hisoka commented, sitting on his and Tsuzuki's bed.

"Good thing Terazuma didn't see us," Tsuzuki said. He was already lying down.

"Well, we _were_ behind him, so…"

"Argh." Tsuzuki poked Hisoka's side. "End the snark. Do you think Taimou's plan will work?"

"It'd better," Hisoka said. "Or my guess is Touda will be _wishing_ he was still imprisoned in Tenkuu."

Tsuzuki laughed softly. "Suzaku has a way of doing that."

"Mm."

"Hey, Hisoka, speaking of that…what were you thinking about when you mentioned your parents today?"

"Nothing," Hisoka said, shrugging.

"Bu_ll_…"

Hisoka swatted at Tsuzuki's head, and then settled into a lying position under the covers. "Fine. I was thinking about how much I would enjoy seeing their faces twist at the thought of me being happy."

Tsuzuki shook his head. "That's awful," he murmured. "_They're_ awful, to leave their own son with so much hate…" He paused for a second, and then reached out for his partner. He wrapped one arm underneath Hisoka's head and then cupped his skull, and with the other hand pulled Hisoka's legs closer to him and into a bent position.

"What are you doing?"

"Snuggling you." Tsuzuki kissed Hisoka's cheek and then tucked the younger man's head underneath his chin. "You need to be babied."

"I'm not a child." Hisoka made to pull away.

Tsuzuki's grip didn't loosen. "You still need to be babied."

"Tsuzuki, let go of me."

"Nope. Nothing doing, darlin'. Resistance is futile."

"Do you even know what "futile" means?"

""Useless"," Tsuzuki said promptly. "I'm smart _some_ of the time, Hisoka. And I'm smart about this. You need to be babied." Tsuzuki began stroking Hisoka's hair. "At least every once in a while."

"You're a freak."

"That loves you. And that won't be letting go anytime soon."

Hisoka heaved an exasperated sigh. "Fine, you big lug."

"Hee!" Tsuzuki nuzzled his forehead against Hisoka's. "Good night."

"Whatever," Hisoka said, adjusting himself so that he lay more comfortably in Tsuzuki's embrace.

* * *

Hmm…I hope I didn't jerk you guys around too much with the tone shifts. I did actually contemplate making this chapter short and ending right after the infirmary scene, but decided against it. I only want _one_ very short chapter, and that'll be about chapter 12 when Tsuzuki/Hisoka actually get married, so the only ones talking will be them and Wakaba.

Oh, and I hope it's not too unbelievable with Hisoka's and Tsuzuki's sleeping arrangements. I hope you caught the difference in Tsuzuki's actions between the infirmary scene and this last scene. I'm only saying this now because I _know_ someone will inquire about it. Just refer back to chapter 1 if you have any questions/concerns.

Again, not a favorite chapter but good enough, I think. I like the whole scene with Wakaba and Terazuma.


	9. Magic Acts

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yami no Matsuei 

**Shout-outs:**

Hikari Tsuki Chi: I really see Suzaku/Touda as Elizabeth/Darcy from Pride & Prejudice, more than UST. As for "Kansei"—it's mentioned in the Manga, so I'm guessing the city or the region.

jennamarie: Nope, no sword, thankfully! As for Count vs. Tatsumi…Count, definitely. Tatsumi can control himself in public.

Kiko812: Thank you.; I heart you too! And you're not crazy, so don't worry. And yes, Wakaba/Terazuma is adorable. Glad I'm portraying them to your liking. BTW, I went and saw your list of Favorite YnM fanfiction. Totally made my day. (Is happy)

Amethyst-eye Koneko: (Sniffles) I'm sorry! (Pats AEK's head) I told you, I put them all through Hell before I give them a happy ending. And they'll work it out themselves, mainly because 1) I have no idea what therapy entails since I thankfully have never had to take any, and 2) After listening to them, I think the _therapist_ would need therapy. (Wink) And of course Tsusoka is a loving relationship. It's just not…well, happy, at the moment at least. I guess I should have had Tsuzuki point out how far they've actually gotten in the relationship—moving in together, sleeping in the same bed, etc. I _so_ wish I could post the prologue of what happened to make Hisoka move in with Tsuzuki, but it's too risqué (I mean, it's not graphic or anything—I don't even mention any body parts and it's actually _really_ tame—but…once a prude, always a prude, I guess).

When is the wedding? Chapter 12!

As for the anomaly…ah, man, I totally forgot about that! I was only thinking about the first couple paragraphs. See, this is what happens when you don't have an editor. (Beats self's head) I'll go back and change that to "Kyoto" later.

There's a website devoted to Byakko/Touda? Wow. B/T is one of those pairings that is oddly intriguing to me, but I can't get into. Like Draco/Harry in the Harry Potter fandom. I hang around at their SCUSA thread at Fiction Alley but I never post, and I can barely read D/H fanfiction.

As for who was yelling at Hisoka in the flashback. Remember, don't quote me on this, as I don't have any real source of confirmation. _But_ I don't think this is a fandom creation either. Remember, 88 percent sure on this, okay?

WARNING! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!

The girl shouting at Hisoka in his dream is his older (half) sister, who died before he was born.

No, she won't be in this fic since I don't have enough info about her.

END SPOILER!

Oh, and there's Tsubaki/Eileen in this chapter, but you can just skip over that if you're seriously not interested.

Stratus5: (Hugs back) You know, that Terazuma/Wakaba scene is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I got the idea from a Gundam Wing fanfiction called "It's A Small World." (Relena: Heero! Trowa is GAY. G-A-Y.) I'm so glad that someone else isn't in it for the smut. I hate PWPs. I was explaining over at a YnM LJ that its one of my squicks. Just look at the two people you're putting together in the pairing and think for a second. While I can handle it in Humor, I really dislike it when Tsuzuki and Hisoka take their love life flippantly and the author tries to pass it off as serious. It wins third place in my YnM Squick List, after consensual Hisoka/Muraki (1st place; come on—if you looked up "trauma" in the dictionary you would see Hisoka's face and biography; why would he willingly subject himself to that again?) and consensual Tsuzuki/Muraki (2nd place; Tsuzuki HATES him! _HATES_ him!). (Realizes self probably just p-ssed off a couple fans) Er…sorry, that turned into a rant of sorts. (Bows in apology) You can write/read it, but I personally hate it.

Aacire: Everything coming together…now I know the virtue of planning a story instead of running with it. I'm actually _so_ worried about the wedding scene and whether or not it'll be corny. That's why I'm just doing dialogue, because IMHO there's no way a just dialogue story can be corny. As for Muraki, he'll be mentioned next chapter but will make no further appearances. He said in chapter 4 that he's done with Tsuzuki, so there's no reason for him to keep appearing in Tsuzuki's life.

Eternity's Heir: Thank you! (Glomp) It's always great to make a fan like a character. I don't quite understand the fandom hate of Tsubaki—I cried when she died. Now, Manga Tsubaki kinda asked for it, but Anime Tsubaki was pretty innocent, if extremely naïve and idealistic, throughout the whole manipulation deal. But anywha…here's your update!

Pumpkin-Pie 4ever aka Lynn: The mind can only handle so much! This is the only one where I'm not having a writer's road block! As for the muffins…double chocolate with white chocolate chip. (Dies of happiness)

**Side Note #1:** ATTACK OF THE MINOR CHARACTERS! ("Run to the hills, run for your LIFE!") We get to see all the girls in this chapter, and we focus on them for the first half, if not the most part, in this chapter. _Don't worry_, I'll make it better than chapter 6, I promise. And we _will_ get some angsty (flangsty?) Tsusoka throughout the chapter _and_ at the end. And to make up for it, you'll get an entire completely dramatic and angsty and romantic Tsusoka (Hisoka-centric) plotline in Chapter 10, okay? Don't hurt me, please? (Has been scarred by disaster that was chapter 6 and still can't bring self to read all of AEK's review)

**Side Note #2:** Via Kotaro and Kojiro, I'm assuming Shiki can appear in Meifu in their human form.

**Side Note #3:** The Tarot spread Tsubaki uses _is_ a real spread. I'm something of a Tarot reader—not an expert but I'm learning.

* * *

Magic Acts

* * *

_To tell her story_

_About how she had been wronged _

_As she lay lifeless_

_He stole her innocence_

_And this is how she carried on_

……………

_Remember you're not alone _

_Well, if you just close your eyes_

_And just imagine everything's all right_

_But do not hide your tears_

'_Cause they were sent to wash away those years_

- Creed, "Wash Away Those Years"

* * *

"Darling, have you heard the news?"

Saya and Yuma oft had the urge to play a lively game of Who Can Stick Their Tongue Further Down Their Lover's Throat?™ on their Sunday off. Also, they had a very handy couch on which to play this game. The little amusement had become rather a tradition for the two. So Yuma was utterly nonplussed when Saya suddenly declared a time-out to the game so she could speak.

"What's the news, angel-wings?" Yuma purred more than asked, nuzzling her head into Saya's neck.

"They've broken up!"

"Who?" Yuma demanded, suddenly rearing up. "Not our Hisoka-_chan_ and Tsuzuki?"

"Of course not _them_, darling," Saya said reassuringly, patting Yuma's head as the more forceful of the two heaved a sigh of relief. "It's our flowers!"

Yuma gasped, completely scandalized. "Not Tsubaki-_chan_ and Eileen-_chan_!"

"Yes, sadly."

"Why?"

"Eileen-_chan_ wants to get married, but Tsubaki-_chan_ doesn't want to, at least just yet. Eileen-_chan_ was really hurt and they had a big fight. Maria-_chan_ told me all about it on the phone today. Eileen-_chan_ refuses to talk to Tsubaki-_chan_ now."

"That girl—so stubborn," Yuma said disparagingly. "You know that it's our bounden duty to get them back together, right, angel-wings?"

"Of course, darling. We can use that party we were planning to do just that."

"Now that's why I like you, Saya. You're intelligent. I like that in people."

Saya giggled and pressed her finger against Yuma's nose. "Next Sunday then, darling?"

"Of course, angel-wings."

The game was back on, the ball in Yuma's court.

* * *

"Maria, I don't want to see her."

"Eileen, you have been ignoring her for a week. That's barely above cruelty," Maria admonished reproachfully.

"_I don't want to see her_."

"She obviously has been wanting to see _you_," Maria returned, insistent on not dropping the argument. She'd done that enough with her stepmother, and this time dying to get out of the situation was not an option.

"Why should she?" Eileen snorted. "She obviously doesn't care."

"Ei_leen_!"

"Eileen-_chan_, Maria-_chan_!"

"Oh dear Lord…" Eileen and Maria whispered simultaneously, one aggravated and the other terror-struck.

"You really _should_ lock your doors, you know," Yuma said, walking into the kitchen from where she and Saya had entered into the living room.

"It's not terribly safe," Saya added helpfully.

"I'm not in the mood," Eileen snapped.

"My, my! Temper, temper, Eileen-_chan_. No wonder Tsubaki-_chan_ wanted to wait."

"Yuma-_koi_, that was mean," Saya protested, indignant on Eileen's behalf, though she needn't have been since Eileen's face was rapidly turning an interesting shade of pink.

"Yuma, Saya, what are you doing here?" Maria intervened, desperately seeking peace again.

"Well, remember the hag party we were talking about the last time we all got together?" Saya began.

"We're implementing it on Sunday!"

"It'll be really fun."

"And there'll be booze."

"And it'll be just us girls."

"Until we invade Tsuzuki's house."

"Will Tsubaki be there?" Maria and Eileen questioned unanimously, one hopeful and another suspicious.

"I don't know, will she, Saya?" Yuma asked, looking to her girlfriend.

"No, poor Tsubaki-_chan_ isn't feeling her best," Saya said wistfully.

"Is she sick?" Eileen asked, more concern in her voice than she intended.

"Stomach virus, poor thing," Saya cooed matronly.

"Should we go see her?" Maria asked anxiously.

"No, no, it's highly contagious, can't go near unless you want to be puking your guts up for the next few days. She'll get over it with rest and space."

"But we simply don't want to wait much longer for this party, because before you know it they'll be up and married," Saya said. "It's Sunday or never, girls. Can we count on you?"

"I'll be there," Maria said. "Eileen?"

"Whatever," Eileen said, crossing her arms. "Yeah, sure."

"You know, Eileen-_chan_, you really reminded us of Terazuma just now," Yuma said.

"Wha…?"

But Yuma and Saya had transported themselves out of Maria and Eileen's Hong Kong apartment before Eileen could complete her first syllable.

* * *

"Tsubaki-_chan_, if you don't mind my saying so, you look like s—t on a stick."

Tsubaki laughed in self-derision, setting the teakettle on to the range and lighting the burner underneath it. "Well, with a stomachache, a cold, and a breaking relationship, I think it'd be weirder if I looked perfectly okay, wouldn't you?"

"I suppose," Yuma said, toying with her teabag. "So, Sunday is the hag party. Can we count on you?"

"Will Eileen be there?"

"Of course. This is a prime chance for a make-up," Saya advertised enticingly.

"Or a make-out."

"Yuma!" Tsubaki and Saya chastised at the same time.

"Excuse me. I'm rather a common girl," Yuma said. "Anyway, my dears, it's high time we had some merriment in Meifu. Have you noticed how everyone is so dark every time Saya and I come around to visit? Tsuzuki and Hisoka-_chan_ obviously; they just _ooze_ angst naturally. I don't know where Tatsumi's head is anymore, and Watari is so jumpy and air-headed. And now _you're_ broken up with Eileen-_chan_. Good Lord, people, we are in the middle of an engagement that we have all waited to come to fruition for years! We are _supposed_ to be joyous. Where is the love, Saya-_koi_, where is it?"

"I know, Yuma-_koi_," Saya affirmed sadly, shaking her head. "Tsubaki-_chan_, won't you _please_ come to the party?"

"And if Eileen-_chan_ won't get back together with you, you can drown your sorrows in sake."

Tsubaki gave them the Exasperated Eye™. They truly were like little sisters sometimes, even though they were quite obviously, by time of death and age upon said time of death, much older than her.

"Yes, yes, I'll go," Tsubaki promised, turning to her cabinet and pulling out some teacups. "Is there any kind of particular tea you…"

But when she turned around, Yuma and Saya had disappeared.

* * *

"Do you ever feel bad about lying to them, darling?"

"Of course not, angel-wings. You know what they say about fools and lies."

"No, what do they say?"

"Hmm…I'm not sure."

"Let's make up a saying!"

"How about…"Fools deserve to be lied to"?"

"That's a little harsh, darling. How about "Fools deserve to be lied to by their friends if it's to their benefit"?"

"Excellent. I knew you were smart."

"Thank you!"

Smooch.

* * *

"Taimou-_san_, Suzaku-_san_, Kouchin-_san_, Tenko-_chan_!" Wakaba said cheerily, waving her hand. "We're going to meet Saya-_chan_ and Yuma-_chan_ at their place in Hokkaido."

"Saya and Yuma…that's their names?" Taimou asked. When Wakaba had presented the invitation to Kansei there had been much confusion over the fact that none of them had any clear idea as to who the two girls were except for what Tsuzuki had told them. But Yuma had sent the message that if you were a girl and close to Tsuzuki and/or Hisoka you should appear at this party; be there or be squared.

Wakaba had had some trouble keeping a straight face when she delivered the last part of the message.

"Yes. Now, I have to warn you about them. They're a bit overzealous with…well, everything. So if they ask you about your love lives and deep personal secrets…that's just them, okay?"

Suzaku cocked an eyebrow. Tenko cocked her head, a little confused.

* * *

"You are quite possibly the most adorable thing I've ever seen," Yuma said, clasping Tenko in a death grip against her chest, "aside from Kazusa when she was really little."

"Yuma-_koi_, I think Tenko-_chan_ can't breathe," Saya cautioned, breezing past her to set something up.

"What? Oh, sorry, sweetie." Yuma unceremoniously plopped Tenko on the ground.

"You get used to it," Kazusa said, helping Tenko to her feet and pulling her away. "_I'm_ Kazusa, by the way."

Kazusa scooted out of the way, taking Tenko with her, as a shimmering silver-blue light in the outline of a woman materialized in the middle of the living room.

"Hi, Maria!" Yuma said, waving. "Where's Eileen?"

"She said she had to pop in somewhere quickly before she appeared." A flicker of a smile graced Maria's mouth. "I think that she went in to check on Tsubaki…"

"Uh-oh," Yuma intoned, looking at Saya. "Well, it's not going exactly as planned, Saya."

"That's all well and good, darling," Saya assured.

A knock came at the door, and Tsubaki entered the room.

"Tsubaki!" Maria yelped. "You're supposed to be sick!"

"I'm what?" Tsubaki asked, confused. "I got over my cold two days ago."

"Just a cold?"

"Yeah. Why, what—?"

"Yuma!" The door banged open and a fairly irate Eileen walked in. "Just _where_ is Tsuba…ki…"

"Eileen." Tsubaki started forward, an uneasy smile on her lips.

"You're supposed to be sick," Eileen said, almost accusingly.

Tsubaki's face was its own definition of flummoxed. "What's going on?"

"Yuma! Saya!" Eileen turned on the two girls, her face darkening to a rash-like red.

"Saya-_koi_, will you do the honors?" Yuma asked.

Saya cleared her throat and straightened her back importantly.

"Fools who break up because of a ridiculous misunderstanding and make each other miserable by not being in each other's lives deserve to be lied to by their friends about their respective significant others' health and attendance at social events if it's to the benefit of the recently broken up couple getting back together."

Suzaku summed up the general response in three simple words: "What the h—l?"

"If you want us, we'll be at Tsuzuki's!"

And once again, Saya and Yuma disappeared in an instant.

* * *

"_Jeez_ you should really warn people if you're going to do that!" Hisoka yelled from his spot on the floor. He and Tsuzuki had been attempting to eat dinner—for it was Hisoka who had unfortunately been afflicted with the stomach virus and was just recovering from it—when Saya and Yuma had materialized on their kitchen table and thrown him off his chair.

"Sorry," Yuma apologized, standing on the tabletop. "We left in a bit of a hurry so we didn't plan our destination quite clearly."

"Yuma-_koi_, you have fish tempura on your rear end," Saya said, pointing to her unfortunate girlfriend's derriere.

"Oh, so I do."

"_Please_ keep your skirt on!" Hisoka half-yelped half-hissed as Yuma hooked her fingers around her skirt and made to pull it down.

"_Please_," Yuma said, rolling her eyes. "It's not like there's anything there you particularly care about."

"Still, Yuma," Tsuzuki began reasonably. "It's not nice."

"And besides, you only take your skirt off for _me_," Saya protested.

"Must…bleach…brain…"

"Why are you here?" Tsuzuki asked quickly.

"Oh, we told a little white lie to Eileen-_chan_ about Tsubaki-_chan_ and when the truth was discovered she got a little angry. We left before she could get violent."

"But did you tell her where you were going?" Hisoka asked, dreading the inevitable.

"Oh, we did, didn't we?" Saya said worriedly, touching her chin.

"3…2…1…"

"Yuma! Saya! I know you're in there!"

"Ah, that would be Eileen-_chan_ now," Yuma said carelessly. "Is your door locked?"

"No," Hisoka moaned, as Eileen pushed open the door and stepped inside the living room. If the phrase "mad as hornets" had dealings in reality, a throng of bees would have swarmed out of Eileen's ears.

"Yuma and Saya," Eileen fumed, her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "How. Dare. You."

"No," Saya returned suddenly, more vicious than anyone could ever remember her being. "How dare _you_?"

A unanimous blink spread across the room. Unnoticed, more figures began drifting into the room.

"Your stubbornness has caused Tsubaki-_chan_ a world of hurt," Saya said, with righteous and innocent indignity. "And you've been throwing every chance to make up back in her face. You are being downright _cruel_ to Tsubaki-_chan_ and I think that's a really s—tty thing to do!"

A bright streak of pink crossed from her left cheekbone to her right, straight across her nose, and her large eyes were hard and shining. She clambered off the table and stormed out of the dining room into the living room and then down the hall to Tsuzuki's bathroom.

"Did Saya-_chan_ just…swear?" Wakaba asked, blinking.

"Well, _I_ don't blame her," Yuma muttered huffily, jumping off the tabletop and straightening herself out. "It's about time Saya-_koi_ snapped. She has firsthand experience in this sort of thing. So unless you want Tsubaki-_chan_ to starve herself out of heartbreak, too, Eileen," Yuma pointed at Tsubaki, "you'd better make up." And with that, Yuma stomped out Saya's path to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

"Tsuzuki, we know some extremely strange people," Hisoka muttered.

Tsuzuki made a sympathetic noise and turned his attention towards the congregation of girls in his living room. "I guess you guys should…make yourselves comfortable," he announced to the room. "We've got some fish tempura…oh, wait…well, we'll get some ramen from the corner store. Hisoka? Let's go."

"Why should we—?" Hisoka stopped at the look Tsuzuki gave him. "Fine, whatever."

* * *

"What was the deal with Insane Girl Number 2 back there?"

"You mean Saya?"

"No, the _other_ Insane Girl Number 2."

Tsuzuki gave Hisoka a little punch in the head. The Meifu sky was dotted with stars as the pair walked along the deserted street to the cheap ramen shop that Tsuzuki had so often frequented that he knew the way there forwards and backwards.

"Saya…well, you can tell she's the more sensitive and emotional of the pair," Tsuzuki began. "When she was alive she fell in love with this guy, and I mean _hard_. But they had a fight—I don't know what about—and he dumped her. Yuma told me that she worked her heart out trying to get him to take her back or at least to hear her out, but he refused. And that girl, she _exists_ for affection. It got to her so badly that she stopped eating."

"So she died of self-induced starvation," Hisoka said slowly.

"I was lucky. I slashed my wrists so many times and so quickly and so forcefully, I was bound to hit the artery. I was dead within minutes. _She_ starved herself…it took months."

Hisoka's hand slipped into Tsuzuki's.

"Did you know that what she looks like now is an optical illusion wrought by magic?" Tsuzuki asked rhetorically. "I've seen pictures of anorexic girls. That's what she actually looks like."

"You've seen her like that?"

"Once…accidentally. I walked into her bathroom when I was visiting and she had a towel around her from getting out of the shower. Water usually dispels any magical illusions, so I saw her. And I'll tell you, Hisoka, we both screamed and I don't know whose voice could have shattered more windows. Yuma pitched a _fit_ when she came in to see what all the screaming was about. 15 ramen to go, please."

Hisoka hadn't even noticed that they had approached the take-out window of the ramen shop. The woman attendant nodded and disappeared to supervise the making.

"How does Yuma know about this?"

"Yuma was the one to cast the spell. She and Saya had been friends when they were alive; Yuma died soon after from pneumonia. Yuma said her biggest regrets were not murdering the guy who did that to Saya, and not letting Saya know about her feelings towards her."

"She's taken care of Regret Number 2, I've noticed."

"Well, Saya, she's…not exactly bisexual…she's "flexible". Yuma said that." Tsuzuki smiled softly at the thought of the two girls, vaguely knowing that they were, at that time, staring at Saya's bony form in his bathroom mirror, the spell removed for the moment. "More than anything, she's in love with love. I guess this deal with Tsubaki-_hime_ and Eileen was getting to her and she just snapped. She's usually so sweet, so this must have really been eating at her. Thank you."

Tsuzuki let go of Hisoka's hand to take one paper bag from the take-out counter. Hisoka followed suite with the other.

* * *

Tsuzuki and Hisoka pushed open the door to find a relatively quiet and half-empty scene.

"Where _is_ everyone?" Hisoka commented.

"Taimou and Suzaku took Tsubaki and Eileen to the guest room to talk," Maria explained from where she was sitting, hands-folded, on the living room counter. "Kazusa had to go home. Chizuru and Rika either couldn't make it or are stuck in Hokkaido wondering where everyone is. Saya and Yuma are still in the bathroom."

"No more!"

"We decided it was a good time to restart this party."

Saya and Yuma appeared in the doorframe of the kitchen. Hisoka immediately felt a sad parody of good cheer emitting from the two girls.

"Ooh, food!" Saya squealed, going towards the table. Hisoka blinked, taken aback. Hesitantly he sent out a bit of Empathy as she peeled open the lid to a container of ramen. An image of a skeleton barely covered by skin, limp, uncombed hair, and wide, sunken eyes greeted his conscious and he shut it out from his mind's eye immediately. No wonder she wanted food.

"How you feeling, Saya?" Tsuzuki asked delicately.

"A bit better," Saya admitted. "Definitely hungry." She picked a pair of cheap bamboo chopsticks out of the bag and eagerly stabbed her ramen noodles with them.

"I've got an idea," Yuma suddenly said.

"No," Hisoka said flatly, not even needing his Empathy to know what was on her mind.

"Oh, come _on_, Hisoka-_chan_, _please_?" Yuma begged. "This is our last opportunity to do it. It's my personal policy to never objectify a married person with my personal girlish fantasies. But I've known you for what, three years out of the four you've been here, and I've been patient long enough." Yuma's hand shot forward and grabbed his wrist.

"Let go of—"

"_And besides_," Yuma's voice said in his head, "_it would make Saya feel better_."

Hisoka immediately sent up a mental barrier. Yuma tugged on his wrist and disappeared into thin air, taking him with her.

* * *

"Let me understand this," Taimou said, rubbing her temples. "You two were best friends."

"Yes," Tsubaki and Eileen said, unintentionally simultaneous.

"_Her_," she pointed to Tsubaki, "father had _you_," she pointed to Eileen, "killed so he could transplant your heart into her."

"Yes."

"However, _your_ spirit lingered, aging as it went because you were still alive inside _her_ via your heart and some strange magic," Taimou continued, pointing at the respective girls with each emphasis. "And when she died, both your spirits went to Meifu. In two years you were reunited and began dating."

"Yes."

"Now, _you_, Eileen, want to be married, but _you_, Tsubaki, don't want to be."

"Yes," Eileen said, expecting Tsubaki's answer to end in "-s" and completely unprepared when her syllable ended in "-t".

Taimou rubbed her temples again. "Shinigami…they baffle me."

"That roughly translates into "you're being idiots"," Suzaku growled, crossing her arms. "Y'see, this is what happens when we have a breakdown of communication."

"Look who's talking."

"Shut up, Taimou," Suzaku snapped. "Now, it is time for _you_ two to talk to each other, and time for _us_ two to go and eat, because I'm starving and I smell ramen. We're going to lock you in this room until you kiss and make up."

"But…"

"Wait…"

Suzaku and Taimou stalked out the door and slammed it shut behind them. Eileen jolted forward and grabbed the doorknob. Twisting, jiggling, and smacking proved futile.

"They were really serious," she muttered furiously, kicking the door. This proved to be a less than intelligent idea, since she was barefoot as was Japanese custom, and her hopping up and down on one foot while holding the other and spitting out curse words was a testament to the fact.

"Eileen!" Tsubaki grabbed Eileen's injured foot from where she was sitting on the guest bed and pulled it towards her, resting it on her knee. Methodically she began rubbing Eileen's toes, trying to ease the pain.

Eileen stared. Tsubaki's hand slowed until it stopped, Eileen's foot resting in between her palms. Her eyes seemed locked on what she was holding.

"D-mn it, Tsubaki," Eileen snarled, pulling her leg away. "I'm _mad_ at you."

"Eileen…"

"You _hurt_ me, Tsubaki. Do you _know_ what it was like, just watching you for 6 years and loving you every minute of it? And then to lose you for 2 years, and finally get you back for 1? And after all that, after 9 years, I find out that you don't care the way I do."

"That's not true!"

"B-llsh-t!"

"Well, if I hurt you so bad, why don't you just teleport out of here?" Tsubaki yelled, her face dark pink.

Eileen opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out except an unorganized grunt. Tsubaki bit on her bottom lip and looked away.

"Because, d-mn it, you can't give up 9 years in a few weeks," Eileen muttered, angry but soft.

Tsubaki turned her head back to look at Eileen. "Do you think it was easy for me?" Tsubaki asked. "You were my best—my only—friend. And you disappeared. Then I had to find out that you were still living _inside_ of me. I tried to block that out. I couldn't stand knowing it was true. I tried to forget because that's all I could do. I fell in love with someone else just to forget about you. I made that doctor the object of my life and I got _killed_ for it."

Eileen stared at her silently as Tsubaki took in a shuddering breath.

"I find you again here and I was so happy I thought I could die again. I began to forget about the Queen Camellia. And that's the _last_ thing I want to do."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm always _forgetting_, Eileen! I forgot about my mother when she died when I saw that "angel" who was her doctor. I forgot about you when you died by falling in love. And what happened? I betrayed a friend and got four people killed, my own father included. And after only having you back for a year, I _can't_ just forget again. No. It's too soon. I've done that twice before and I was stupid to do it." Tsubaki's lower lip was quivering. A teardrop hung dangerously from the corner of her eye.

Eileen crossed her arms and turned away, chewing her upper lip. She turned back, almost going to speak, but shut her mouth and turned away again.

"Tsubaki…"

But she was cut off by several squeals coming from the living room.

"That sounds like Saya," Tsubaki said, her attempt to alter the conversation blaringly obvious. "And the others…I guess it's the rest of them."

"What's making them squeal like tha…?"

"Yuma-_koi_…it's scary. I mean, I know we've dreamed about this since we practically met him, but…well…he's supposed to look like a drag queen, not an actual girl. It's…it's…_weird_ when he's prettier than us."

"I'm out of here."

"Wait! Oh…Saya-_koi_, you ruined it!"

"Don't worry, Yuma-_koi_, all the good drag queens are in Kansei. We'll find him—that perfect woman-man—eventually!"

Tsubaki covered her face with her hands and breathed very sharply. Eileen couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying, or both.

* * *

"That was nice of you, Hisoka."

"We shall not speak of it again. Any conversation having to do with it is barred from this house from here on out."

"Or what?" Tsuzuki teased.

"Or you'll be sleeping outside for the next year."

Tsuzuki laughed and pulled Hisoka into an embrace from behind. "Still, it was nice of you. I have a feeling you only gave in because it would make a certain girl happy…"

"Silence."

The psuedo-party had fizzled out after Hisoka had disappeared; Maria had gone back to Hong Kong, Wakaba was accompanying the Shikigami back to the Suzaku Gates. Tsubaki and Eileen were still in the guest room, and as for the two instigators…

"They make it look so easy, don't they?"

Hisoka and Tsuzuki turned to look at Tsubaki. Her upper torso was cocked back, her arms folded against her stomach, her head tilted sideways with a small, sad smile on her lips. Her eyes went from Hisoka and Tsuzuki to the couch, where the more-than-slightly tipsy pair of overzealous fangirls had passed out. Saya was lying on her back, her one arm dangling over the cushions. Yuma was…well, the best words to use was "sprawled" over her girlfriend, lying on her stomach. Yuma's one arm was tucked neatly underneath Saya's head; likewise Saya's left hand was lightly cupping the back of Yuma's skull. Yuma's free arm was also dangling off the couch cushions. Her pinky finger was hooked lightly around Saya's.

"Where's Eileen?" Tsuzuki asked.

"She left. Teleported home," Tsubaki said, and in such a way that stopped any further inquiries. "What are we doing with Thelma and Louise over there?"

"With who?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Saya and Yuma," Tsubaki explained. "It's this old American pair of femme fatales…never mind."

"Well, we can teleport them, but I'm not particularly keen on taking them back to Hokkaido. First of all, we're not sure where exactly they live, second of all, it's freezing up there, and third of all, their house is the last place I want to go into at night."

Tsubaki laughed. "Okay…let's bring them to my place, then. There's nothing dangerous there. Just take hold of them and then grab my arm."

The trio dispatched to do just that.

* * *

"Are you and Eileen going to be okay?"

Hisoka and Tsubaki were alone—Tsuzuki had assigned himself the task of carrying the two drunken girls up the stairs to Tsubaki's guestroom. Tsubaki had just turned on the light switch to her kitchen when Hisoka asked the question.

Tsubaki turned to look at Hisoka with resigned eyes and a sad smile. "I don't know." She shrugged tightly. "She's looking me in the face again, and she heard what I had to say. It's all up to her now." She cocked the corner of her lip up in an attempt at cheer. "Maybe I should do a Tarot reading on us; give myself a heads-up."

"You actually use those things?" Hisoka asked disdainfully.

"I'll have you know, Kurosaki-_san_, that I am quite an expert at the task," Tsubaki said, gesturing playfully. "Personal spreads, Relationship spreads, Family spreads, you name it; I can do it."

A small thought of Muraki's cruel irony passed through Hisoka's brain but he quickly slapped it away. "Family spreads" she'd said…

"Father didn't like it," Tsubaki continued, rambling. "Thought I was dabbling too much in the occult. Well, maybe…but it's not like they're inherently demonic or anything…it's just how you use them…"

"You said you could do Family spreads?"

"Huh? Oh, yes."

"Like…Parent-Child spreads?"

"Yes. Why? Are you interested? Why are you interested?" Tsubaki combined her two questions.

Hisoka hesitated and bit his lip. "I'm…I'm asking because I'm…going to go topside and see my parents again."

"Oh…they're alive? I didn't know that…" Tsubaki looked worried at the unreadable expression on Hisoka's face. "Well, if you want to, I _can_ do a reading for you. It's called a Codependency Spread. Let me go get my cards…"

Tsubaki disappeared into her living room and reappeared with a pack of blue-backed cards. She handed them to Hisoka.

"What am I…?"

"The Querent—that's you—is supposed to shuffle. Here, sit down. You can shuffle them any way you want; it's all about you."

Tsubaki pulled out a chair at her table and Hisoka sat at it, awkwardly rearranging the cards as Tsubaki stood over him.

"When you're done, hand me the pack."

Hisoka forked them over quickly, and Tsubaki murmured a few unintelligible words. Then she leaned over his shoulder and began laying cards out in front of him in the shape of a triangle, 9 cards in total.

"Now, _this_," she said, picking up the third card from the top on the left side of the triangle, "is your self-image." She turned it over. "The Five of Swords."

"That looks promising."

"Hmm. This means you feel you've lost to a sore winner."

"Ain't that the truth."

"And this one," she touched the card opposite the first, "is your parents' self-image." She turned it over. "Justice. They think they did what was necessary to order out their lives."

Hisoka bit his lip.

"This third one is how you feel about your parents…the King of Swords reversed. Oppression, gloom, miserliness, loss, cruelty…Wow, you must really hate them." Tsubaki gave a half-smile, not quite appreciating the truth her words were sounding.

"This fourth one is how _they_ feel about _you_…the Five of Pentacles. They considered you as a loss…an expendable one." Tsubaki frowned and reached for the fifth card. "This one is outside influences on you…the Page of Cups. An emotional extremist, but one that is extremely kind."

"Okay, this is just d-mn freaky."

"That's why _you_ shuffle the cards. It's _your_ spirit being infused with them. This sixth one is outside influences on your parents…the Emperor reversed. Conflict with authority…"

"Sounds like my uncle."

"…or their own abuse of power. And this one is the present situation…the Five of Wands. Since this is Querent-centric, I'm guessing that _you_ are the one working on a new project, and conflicts are hindering _your_ progress. Am I right?"

"Absolutely."

"Now, this eighth one is advice for the Querent…the Star reversed. Uh-oh. It's warning you that nothing good can come of this meeting."

"And what's this last one?" Hisoka tapped the last unturned card.

"This one is the outcome…Death."

"Oh, _fantastic_."

"No, actually, Death is an excellent card," Tsubaki corrected. "It means a transition. Of course, it's probably going to be difficult and you're going to be hurt, but still…it's better than where you are now."

Hisoka stared at the triangle in front of him on the kitchen table. He pushed his chair back and stood.

"Well, what do you think? Accurate?"

"Freakishly. Thanks."

"If that wasn't sarcastic: It wasn't a problem. If that _was_ sarcastic: Well, you asked for it." She smiled again. "Look, it really is getting late. You should probably head home." She hugged his head and kissed his cheek. "I hope the Star reversed is proved wrong."

"Probably won't be," Hisoka said pessimistically.

"Can't you let someone wish you good luck?" She punched his arm. "Go on, get yourself home."

* * *

"I think it's a bad idea."

"Aren't you asleep yet?" Hisoka rolled onto his other side to look Tsuzuki in the face. "What's a bad idea?"

"You going to see your parents."

"I _knew_ I felt your presence when Tsubaki-_hime_ gave me that reading. What, were you eavesdropping?"

"I was about to walk into the kitchen when I heard you two talking. So I hid and listened."

"That's called _eavesdropping_, moron."

"Hisoka."

Hisoka glared into Tsuzuki's deadly serious face.

"You don't need Star reversed to tell you that nothing is going to change between you and them. Seeing them is only going to hurt you."

"Look, you," Hisoka returned, almost angry. "When I summoned Ruka, it hurt you to see her. But at the same time, you were happy to see her because she told you and Shinji the truth, didn't she? You got at least _some_ type of closure with her. It isn't complete closure, but it's _something_. And that's what I want. I'm sick of this little limbo I'm stuck in with them and Muraki. It's holding me back. I'm going to see them because I want to cut them off. You can come with me or you can stay here, but I'm going to go see them come hell or high water and nothing can stop that."

"D-mn, you're stubborn," Tsuzuki said after a pause.

"You're the same way."

"Suppose I am," Tsuzuki said, "because I still think it's a bad idea. But I also know…" he inched his way closer to Hisoka, "…that you won't stop for anything." He touched his forehead against Hisoka's. "And of course I'm going with you. There's no way I'd let you go up there alone."

"Good, because…"

"Because?"

"I want you there."

* * *

Well, (surveys chapter) a little patchy in spots but on the whole I think it was pretty good. I never thought I could get so angsty with Yuma and Saya…that was completely unexpected, by the way. I had other things planned for the chapter but it didn't come together, so I just kinda ran with new ideas.

I have the beginning of chapter 10 on the computer, and some other parts written on notebook paper, but it might take a while to get the chapter up because I have homework and exams up hill and down dale. Just content yourself with my foreshadowing for now, okay? Please?


	10. Bitter and Sweet

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yami no Matsuei

**Shout-outs:**

Kiko812: Cliffy? Really? Well, here's the next chapter. And do your homework! (Okay, nix the hypocritical motherly scolding)

Hikari Tsuki Chi: I know the girl _herself_ isn't a fandom creation; it's her relationship to Hisoka that might be the creation.

As for the meeting with his parents…well, you'll just have to see. Watari and Tatsumi's case on the family hasn't happened in this fanfic. I began writing Second Death in the very beginning of the Gensoukai/Kurosaki arc and I didn't want to get ahead of myself with no real knowledge of the story. Nowadays I use bits of information and manipulate them for my own nefarious fanfiction purposes here. I'd use that arc if they would hurry up and actually print the rest of the manga. (Waits impatiently for May 2nd to roll around, when they finally pop out volume 11.)

Aacire: Thank you! Your answer to T/E will be in either chapter 11 or 13, and your answer to Hisoka will be now!

Stratus5: I know; I _totally_ wasn't expecting to make Saya an anorexic. But then I thought, "you know, they _did_ die with regrets, so there's gotta be something…" So when I wrote Saya's outburst, the opportunity just presented itself. I made up Yuma dying of pneumonia on the spot, though.

Tsubaki and Eileen…what's great about them is you can do anything with them. Tsubaki has some constraints on personality, but she's easy to write: a very sweet person who can explode when she's angry and gets upset easily. Eileen, on the other hand, is the true playdoh of the YnM world because she can be anything. I got Angry!Eileen from the fact that Tsubaki was a real wench when she was being possessed half-Eileen half-Muraki in the Manga.

As for Tsuzuki and Hisoka…well, they're great. (Huggles them).

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: AEK! AEK! (Grins) I'll call you that from now on. And yes, the spell-check is a Godsend!

Prologue…hmm, well, there's several holes in my ability to post it. First of all, the file on my computer was lost. Second, it doesn't really have a beginning; I just sorta picked up in the middle. Third…I dunno, I feel weird posting it. It's _mine_, you know. Sorry…I'll do what I can to implement it herein. _And_ I'm planning some character-centric side stories for Second Death so we'll see what develops there. _And_ we still have the aftermath of the wedding to deal with, which will probably be written along the same lines…

Anyway.

Just remember, 88 percent sure on the Hisoka thing. Don't quote me on it just yet.

It's weird; you're the only one that doesn't like T/E as far as I can see. Hopefully it's just the pairing that bores you and not my writing. If it is, I'm the same way—someone could write the most massive, epic, best-written story for, say, Ron/Hermione from Harry Potter or Eclipse/Erutis from Demon Diary and I wouldn't read it, simply because I don't like those pairings. But anyway, steel yourself for some more T/E later on. They're my second favorite pairing in YnM so they're gonna get a little more screen time.

Not reading your review for chapter 6 has more to do with me being an oversensitive drama queen than anything you said. (Wink) I think it's harder getting criticized for a bad chapter when you _know_ it was bad, than getting criticized for a chapter you thought was really, really good. If someone criticizes a chapter you love you can brush it off and say, "What do they know?" and have a good laugh at their stupidity, but when you're criticized for a chapter you hated it's like adding salt to the wound. It makes you cringe and go "Yeah, I _know_ it sucked. You don't have to remind me." That, of course, is no offense to you _at all_; it's something that has to do with me and _my_ inability to cope with criticism…(Grin and Wink). I'll have to work on that…

Oh, and for that matter, you might be wondering "Why did I post chapter 6 if I didn't like it anyway?" The answer: I started off liking it, but as it went on I became more and more disillusioned with how it was turning out. However, I couldn't think of any other way to write it. Moreover, it was starting to kill my inspiration for the rest of the story. Rather than let the story be killed, I pumped out chapter 6 really quickly and began working on chapter 7 immediately.

Hisoka-humor is best, as always, and Tarot is a lot of fun. I suggest you take it up.

Glad to see someone hates Nagare as much as me. He and Muraki should hook up, seriously…

**Side Note #1:** Holy…over 3000 hits for Second Death! (Glomps all) Thank you all so much! Now, if only I had 3000 reviews to match… (NudgeNudgeWinkWink)

**Side Note #2:** Just some things from volume 10 that I'm manipulating here:

1. Dr. Hazama is a female in this fic, her name is Satsuki, and Miya is her daughter. I also made up Miya's history with Hisoka.

2. Rui is not pregnant with a demon's child.

* * *

Bitter and Sweet

* * *

_Your hands were covered in paint_

_The pillow smothered my cry_

_You were half-charmer half-snake_

_I lived in dreamtime_

- Heather Nova, "I'm Alive"

* * *

"Satsuki, what's the diagnosis? What's wrong with him?" 

Satsuki looked up from her patient, chewing her bottom lip. "Nagare-_sama_, Rui-_sama_, I'm sorry but…it appears that Hisoka-_sama_ has been raped."

"Nonsense," Nagare asserted shortly.

"I know it's difficult to swallow," Satsuki whispered soothingly, "but all the evidence points to it. This is beyond my control. He needs to see the other doctors."

"Out of the question," Nagare stated firmly.

"But sir!"

"What proof do you have that he's been raped?" Rui hissed.

"Ma'am!" Satsuki yelped indignantly. "Just _look_ at his lips. Bruised and swollen. His wrists are raw from cloth burns; they were _tied_. I saw to his X-rays personally; he has bone bruises on his pelvis and a fractured coccyx. I found blood and semen all over him. Sir, ma'am, I know your relationship with Hisoka-_sama_ is wretched to say the least, but for pity's sake, this is your _child_! He has been raped, and from the looks of it, _extremely_ violently. He needs a specialist, and _you_ need to file a complaint right now if you want to catch the sick b-st-rd who did this."

"It's not your place or your business," Nagare said coldly. "Kindly leave us."

"But—!"

"Now."

Satsuki's mouth was pressed in a firm line, her face contorted with livid surprise. She slammed her pen down on her clipboard and stalked from the room, her face a storm cloud.

Nagare and Rui turned their attention to Hisoka. His skin had paled to the color of the hospital bed's sheets. His eyes were open, the bright green of his pupils widened into two flawless, round, soulless emeralds.

Nagare reached down and touched his son's arm. Hisoka convulsed, his throat constricting to only allow a small gasp-squawk to pass through his lips.

"D-mn," Nagare said steely. "We can't afford to have people looking into our family. It'll destroy us. And God help us if some reporter accidentally…"

"I told you he would destroy our family," Rui snapped venomously. "First he develops this demon ability…and now he wanders outside like an idiot and gets himself newsworthy. What are we going to tell the press?"

"An accident," Nagare replied coolly. "We'll pay off the woman who found him, and the hospital staff, just in case. Satsuki's not a problem…she'll keep her mouth shut if we force her."

"D-mn you," Rue said, sucking in her breath in between her teeth as her eyes hardened against her child. "You deserve this, you hear me?" She gripped the edge of the hospital bed, her knuckles turning white. "You deserve this!"

* * *

Hisoka woke up to Tsuzuki wiping sweat off his forehead. Hisoka pushed his hand away and turned onto his back, staring at the ceiling. 

"Today?"

"Yeah," Hisoka answered, running his wrist against his forehead and sitting up in bed. He was beginning to feel a spiked ball of nerves tearing at his stomach.

"You're absolutely sure?" Tsuzuki asked, getting out of bed.

"Yeah."

"Positively?"

"_Yes_." Hisoka pushed the covers back and swung his legs over the mattress. "I'm getting a shower. No need for them to think their dead son is dirtier than they thought I was."

"I'll wash your back for you," Tsuzuki threw out playfully, reminiscently.

"No thanks," Hisoka returned, catching the nostalgia of the Kyoto case. He exited the bedroom, Tsuzuki behind him. They parted ways halfway down the hall; not before Tsuzuki gave Hisoka's hand a loving squeeze and his ears a promise to try and not ruin breakfast utterly and completely, and also to try and leave the kitchen intact.

Hisoka walked through the psuedo-hallway and entered the bathroom. It seemed too bright for what he was going to be doing today. In fact, the sunlight streaming in through the window was bothering him. It had rained for Tsuzuki's family, why was it sunny for his?

'Ending that thought process now,' Hisoka mentally commanded himself, reaching for his sleeve so he could pull his arm through. His hands faltered as it took hold of the cloth. On both hands was the beginning of the bright red design that had been drawn on him 7 years ago.

"D-mn it," Hisoka muttered to himself, staring at the flame-like sketches of ruby color.

This made up for the lack of rain.

* * *

Kanagawa was just like Hisoka remembered it. 

Which dated back to many, many years prior to the age of 13. It went back to about the time he was 5, a year or so before he began feeling other people's emotions around him. The grounds were naturally clean; it seemed like every blade of grass was growing perfectly in tandem with every other. The cherry trees that had been the talk of the town still bloomed in flawless petals on impeccably knotted black trees. It was like a painting.

Like a sinister painting in a museum somewhere that frightened well-meaning tourists with its seamless, lifeless symmetry.

"This place is pretty," Tsuzuki said awkwardly.

"Pretty creepy."

"That, too."

The house was the scariest part of it all. It was something that seemed to be created right out of The Haunted House Manual, if such a book had ever been written. The traditional Japanese mansion practically screamed of the ghosts of people who had been born there, lived there, loved there, suffered there, died there. In a way Hisoka was grateful that if he'd had to have a prison, it had been the basement—the least amount of spirits, or the memories thereof, roamed there.

The basement.

"The basement," Hisoka said aloud, softly.

"What?"

"That's where I lived for the greater portion of my life," Hisoka said bitterly. "I want to go there first. Get myself good and p-ssed off before I go see the folks, y'know? It's a good place to start."

"If…that's what you want," Tsuzuki said, putting his hand on Hisoka's shoulder. Hisoka wasn't sure if it was to follow him through teleportation to the basement—which was what it wound up being anyway—or if it was some attempt at comfort.

* * *

"I forgot how bad it smells down here," Hisoka said plainly. 

"Never mind that, it's a wonder you didn't go blind."

The basement would have been pitch-black had it not been for the rays of sunlight streaming in through the small box window. Tsuzuki could tell that, at night, vision would be impossible for the normal human eye. The room presently took on a dark navy tint, spreading shadows across the walls.

Tsuzuki cast his eyes about. They landed on a small, dirty lump of mismatched-colored cloth. He went towards it and picked up a patch of solid colors.

"Hisoka, I think these were…"

"My old clothes, yeah. No wonder it reeks down here. They haven't been down to clean this place at all…"

"Look at how little you were." Tsuzuki stared at the small, dirty, moth-eaten, white kimono he held in his hands like it was some long-lost treasure. "You must've been adorable," he teased.

Hisoka rolled his eyes. Tsuzuki rubbed the cloth in his fingers. The clothes, like the room, were freezing. They couldn't have provided much warmth in wintertime, or during storms…the image of a 7-year-old Hisoka, huddled in a little ball in the corner with only this thin, cheap material to keep him warm…

He gripped the kimono with trembling hands and then forced himself to put it down. As he replaced it his hand brushed against something sharp. He cleared away some of the others clothes until he unearthed the jagged object. A shard of broken glass.

"Hisoka?" He turned around, holding the glass up.

"Oh, that…my parents used to send food down to me. That's from a drinking glass." He paused, glancing uncomfortably, almost guiltily, at the shard. "I…tried to kill myself once, when I was…12, I think. But I got scared…I cr-pped out of it before I actually cut myself." He laughed mockingly. "The maid who brought it to me—her name was Hazama Satsuki, she was my personal doctor in the hospital, too—found out and she flipped. Told my parents. They condescended to come down and yell at me. 'There haven't been any suicides in the Kurosaki family since the Tokugawa period!'," he mimicked, his voice high-pitched and laden with loathing. ""It's shameful and weak of you to even think about it!" So says the people who _drove_ me to it…"

Tsuzuki stared at the glass. It glinted in the sunlight filtering in through the window. He could see it was perfectly clean aside from the dust—no blood or tiny shreds of flesh that he had seen on his own suicide weapon before his soul had passed on.

"This window here," Hisoka sat, slapping the glass with his open palm. "This window was my best friend for awhile. My little portal to the outside world. I used to take it out and wonder around at night when it got too dark. In hindsight, that wasn't such a brilliant idea." He paused, staring at his double-edged sword, the escape that allowed him to be trapped by something much, much worse… "I can probably still fit myself through it. I lost a lot of weight in the hospital…"

Tsuzuki stood up and dropped the shard onto the small pile of old clothes with a small _shink_ sound. He stepped toward Hisoka.

_Creak…_

"Okay, that wasn't me," Tsuzuki said, looking stricken.

"D-mn it," Hisoka muttered, turning around quickly. The basement door had opened, and a tabi-covered foot had stepped down onto the first stair.

"Who's there?" a young woman's voice yelped, whipping around a flashlight. Hisoka covered his eyes and then squinted through his fingers to see who was assaulting his vision with a low-watt bulb. A young woman with bobbed red hair, dressed in a servant's kimono.

"No, it's not…it can't be…" The young woman nearly dropped her flashlight. "You died years ago…it's not possible… Hisoka-_kun_?"

"Miya." Hisoka stared at her, eyes wide.

"No way." Miya's hand shook. "You died…I was there, I was there, when they pulled…" Miya's skin was growing steadily paler. "You look exactly like…_is this some sick joke!_"

"Miya, wait…"

"Stay back!" Miya screeched, aiming the light bulb directly into Hisoka's eyes. "This is…this is _impossible_! You're _dead_, I went to your funeral, you…"

"Miya-_san_, was it?"

Miya suddenly froze. Hisoka took this opportunity to move out of the line of light and look at Miya unhindered. Tsuzuki had teleported behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Miya-_san_, my name is Tsuzuki Asato, and that person there _is_ Hisoka," Tsuzuki said calmly, trying not to frighten her.

"But, but, he's dead…"

"I'm a Shinigami, and so is he."

"A Shinigami…" Miya repeated dazedly. Her knees were beginning to feel weak. "No way…impossible…"

"Miya," Hisoka said, "ask me something about myself that only you would know."

"H-h-how old were we," Miya began shakily, "when I…when I told you I was going to marry you when we grew up?"

"Four. It was in the middle of April, by the stream in the garden. I told you that marriage was "icky" and it was never going to happen."

"Oh my God." Miya sank to her knees, her eyes as wide as saucers and unwaveringly locked on Hisoka. "But that means…are you back here to kill someone?"

Hisoka shook his head. "That's not what Shinigami do. We collect the souls of dead people before they become ghosts."

"Then you're gonna have to collect _mine_," Miya said, pressing her hand to her chest, "because you gave me a heart attack."

"Hisoka, how do you know her?" Tsuzuki asked.

"She's Satsuki's daughter," Hisoka explained. "I used to play with her when I was little. Why…a bit jealous, are we?"

Miya looked back and forth between her childhood playmate and the man standing behind her. "No wonder you told me that marriage was icky…"

"Miya." Miya flinched a little. When she looked up again, Hisoka was standing at the foot of the small flight of stairs, looking into her face. "What were you saying earlier, that you were there when they pulled something?"

"Oh." Miya's mouth open and closed several times, trying to figure out what should pass beyond its borders. "You didn't…you didn't know?"

"What didn't I know, Miya?"

"That they…your parents…you used to slip into comas sometimes and…the last time you did they…they took you off Life Support." Miya's eyes squinted to try and stop tears at the indescribable, untranslatable look on Hisoka's face. "I…didn't want them to…" Her hand reached out and grabbed his sleeve, and she pulled his limp appendage towards her and buried her face in the back of his hand. "I told them not to…"

""Satsuki, pull the plug"," Hisoka whispered. "I heard them…the last thing I heard…"Satsuki, pull the plug"…Son of a _b-tch_."

Miya choked. Tears spilled over her bottom eyelids. Satsuki's assistant had had to hold her back, her screaming lips and her crying eyes and her flailing limbs, as the cold, lifeless machinery was removed from Hisoka's cold, lifeless body. Dimly she felt Tsuzuki put a hand on her head; through her tears she saw his other hand reach out to Hisoka. Hisoka stepped away from them both, pulling his arm out of Miya's grasp.

"What were you doing down here, Miya?" Tsuzuki asked, giving Hisoka a moment to gather his thoughts.

"I…heard noises."

"Miya, are my parents here?" Hisoka asked, his voice an odd mixture of strangled and flat.

"What…oh…yes." She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Is that why you're…"

"I'm here to see them," Hisoka said steadily, "because I want them to tell me how much they hate me to my face. So I can tell them I hate them just as much. So I can make them feel just as sh-tty as they made me feel. So that it's over."

Miya tried to pull herself up on shaking legs. Tsuzuki grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet.

"Hisoka-_kun_!" she suddenly gasped, tripping down the stairs and falling against him, burying her face in his collarbone. Falteringly, Hisoka's hand ascended and landed on her head.

"Miya, I need you to take me to my parents," he said composedly. "I'm closing off my Empathy and I won't be able to feel their presence."

Miya nodded silently and pulled back. She rubbed at her eyes with the heel of her palm. "C-come on, I'll…take you to them…"

She turned away, seemingly incapable of looking him in the face. Her stride was hurried as she walked up the steps, Hisoka following her quietly. As he passed Tsuzuki on the steps his partner's hand reached out and slowly collected Hisoka's own hand. Hisoka let his hand settle in Tsuzuki's grasp as they silently followed Miya through a labyrinth of hallways Hisoka vaguely remembered from over 15 years ago, until they reached a sliding paper door leading to what Hisoka recalled was the study.

"Nagare-_sama_, Rui-_sama_," Miya called, her voice quivering.

"Who is it?" a female voice called back, and Hisoka's hand twitched in Tsuzuki's. He pulled his hand free and balled it into a fist.

"Miya," the servant answered. "You have…guests."

"Well, send them in," a male from within ordered.

"I-I have to warn you," Miya said, reaching for the door handle. "They're going to come as a shock…Rui-_sama_ ought to be sitting down…"

Miya pulled the sliding door back, and Hisoka's eyes took it all in. Nagare standing by the bookshelf, in the process of putting a book back. Rui sitting on the cushioned chair, her hands resting on her stomach.

For a moment Hisoka couldn't think.

"You're dead."

It was Nagare who spoke. Rui seemed incapable of exercising her voice box, as was evident by her stare. It was a statement, an accusation, everything but an exclamation of surprise.

Hisoka swallowed. His throat needed the coating of saliva the way metal hinges need oil. "Yeah. You saw to that personally, didn't you?"

"I knew you were a demon," Rui hissed, regaining her senses. "Come back for revenge, have you?"

"Wrong on both counts," Hisoka answered. "I'm not and I never was a demon. And if I was back for revenge, I wouldn't have waited four years."

"Then what are you?" Nagare asked collectedly, putting down his baggage.

"A Shinigami."

"Interesting," Nagare commented. "Is someone dying?"

"Not in any literal sense," Hisoka said, surprising himself with the calmness of his voice.

"Then, pray tell, why have you interrupted our lives?" Nagare asked.

Hisoka laughed, a short bark of derision. "Interrupting your lives, am I? What about _you_ interrupting _my_ life by pulling the plug?"

"How did you find out?"

""Satsuki, pull the plug"," Hisoka recited sardonically. "Just couldn't stand to look at me any longer, could you? Not that you cared, anyway. You showed up once a month in the hospital to see me, at max. What, was I getting too expensive?"

"No," Nagare answered smoothly.

"Oh, so it was good for your image to put your son out of his misery."

"No. That was just a benefit."

"A benefit. Ha. A benefit. Then why the h-ll'd you do it?"

Nagare glanced at Rui, and then back at Hisoka. "There are many things about this family you don't know."

"Pray enlighten me, o great one," Hisoka snapped sarcastically.

"Contrary to your ignorant assertions, Hisoka, you _are_ a demon." Nagare stepped forward, practically daring Hisoka to make some sign of comprehending his words.

Hisoka glared at him with stubborn, defiant eyes. "Go on."

"As a child, you were possessed by one of the roaming spirits about this house," Nagare continued, as if delivering a lecture and not an epiphany. "_That_ is why you developed into that monstrosity that you became."

"Monstrosity? Lovely," Hisoka snorted. "I could feel other people's _emotions_; I didn't sprout fangs and hunt for victims. And that doesn't explain why you nixed Life Support."

"The way to exorcise a demon from a house is to kill the host. After three years, your death was seemly. _That_ is why we, ehm…"nixed" the Life Support."

""That's why", he says," Hisoka muttered. ""_That's_ why". To hate your own child that much."

"You weren't our child."

"No, I _was_ your child," Hisoka snapped correctively. "_You_ did the dirty with _her_," he jabbed his finger in Rui's direction, "and 9 months later I popped out. That makes me your son, as much as we both loathe admitting it. Your _monstrous_ son who went through one of the most traumatic experiences of anyone's life and you couldn't be moved to care." There was some frightening emptiness in Hisoka's eyes. "Do you remember the diagnosis?"

Nagare stared at him sullenly. "What are you…"

"Massive amounts of blood loss," Hisoka interrupted. "Bone bruises on my pelvis. A fractured coccyx. You know what that is? A broken a-s. He _broke_ my _a-s._ Ever wonder what it'd be like having your nerves explode when you try to sit down, hmm, father of mine? And _those_ were just my physical injuries. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, paranoid schizophrenia…oh, yeah, mustn't forget those night terrors, and consequently insomnia. Add that all up and times that by three, one for each year. That means I suffered one h-ll of a lot. You wanna know what the worst part was? Knowing you didn't give a _SH-T!_"

For the first time Hisoka's control slipped. His face was burning; his eyes were glistening; his hands were trembling. His knees seemed almost ready to give way.

""Satsuki, pull the plug"," Hisoka repeated, his eyes unblinkingly directed at Nagare. "You cold _b-st-rd_."

"Is that all you came here for?" Nagare asked flatly, frowning at Hisoka.

"No," Hisoka spat. "I came here to see if there was some tiny little speck of remorse, one little shred of humanity left in you that would warrant my forgiveness. Unfortunately that's fallen flat."

"Then why don't you just leave?" Rui snarled.

"Because I've got one other thing to say to you. Something that's going to _crush_ you when you hear it."

"Oh, it is, is it?" Rui mocked. "What could you possibly say to crush us?"

"I'm _happy_."

The words were knocked out of the air with those three syllables.

"Despite all the sh-t you did to me, I managed to accomplish such terribly difficult things like forming social relationships and, Heavens alive, actually _falling in love_. With a _guy_, of all the irony. This one right here, in fact. You know, I'm feeling his emotions right now and he's pretty p-ssed off." Hisoka swiped his arm across the air and blocked Tsuzuki's path. "Let me handle this, Tsuzuki."

He took a step forward, drawing a frightening parallel between himself and his father. "I came back here to tell you that I hope when you die you turn over in your graves knowing that I'm _happy_ in spite of your best efforts."

Nagare's sullen gaze took on a bored quality. "Is that all?"

"…Yes." Hisoka stepped backwards, his gaze not averting from his father. "I came here to tell you that you're both a waste of oxygen and my prayers are with any kids you try to destroy in the future. Don't worry, old man, this'll be the last time I "interrupt" your pathetic lives. It's not like I'm exactly attached to this place."

"Good. We have an accord then." Nagare smirked, stretching out his hand smugly.

Hisoka viciously smacked away the proffered hand. "_Scr-w _you, you arrogant son of a b-tch. I'm outta here."

"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki made to grab onto Hisoka's arm but he had disappeared before Tsuzuki could reach him. Another hand suddenly descended on Tsuzuki's arm, and he whipped around to see Miya's alarmed face.

"I think I know where he's going," she half-whispered. "Come on, hurry…!" She pulled Tsuzuki away from the room before he could think.

"Miya-_san_, wait!" Tsuzuki yelped, tripping along behind her as she refused to relinquish his sleeve. "Where are we…?"

"He's already been to the basement," Miya said, not slowing her pace. "And he's just seen his parents. If he came back here to say good-bye to this place, where _else_ is he gonna go?"

"You don't mean…" Tsuzuki stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide. "You don't…_can't_ mean…"

"He's gonna go to that tree!" Miya yelled, panicked and teary. "Come on, we _gotta_ go to him!" She went tearing off down the hallways, Tsuzuki on her heels.

* * *

When they first caught sight of him on the path, they saw his still form standing before a gnarled cherry tree sitting serenely among a forest of others just like it. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he was staring emptily at it. 

"Hisoka." Tsuzuki's fingers brushed Hisoka's arm and Hisoka did not turn his head or make any sign that he acknowledged the touch. "Hisoka, don't do this…"

"Did you know you can hear someone if they yell from here all the way back to the house?" Hisoka asked, unblinkingly. "Ha. I told myself for years that no one could hear me, and that was why no one came."

"Hisoka-_kun_," Miya gulped tearfully, "we heard…the servants wanted to…"

"_D-mn_ him," Hisoka muttered, about both Muraki and Nagare. He slammed his hand against the trunk off the tree and dug his nails into the bark. His knees that had been threatening collapse folded and he sunk to the ground. "If I hadn't been so _weak_…I practically _let_ him. I gave up fighting with my father; of course I gave up fighting Muraki. D-mn it, I _let_ him!"

"Hisoka, stop it!" Tsuzuki rushed forward and sunk to his knees, pulling Hisoka into him.

Hisoka's eyes whipped open. His body struggled to free itself from Tsuzuki's grasp but Tsuzuki hung on doggedly, refusing to loosen his hold.

"Miya-_san_, stay back!" he yelled at the horrified servant girl who stared with round, frightened eyes. He pressed one side of Hisoka's head to his face, Hisoka's ear near his mouth. "Hisoka, calm down, Hisoka, it's not happening now, please, listen to me, Hisoka, please calm down…"

"_NO!"_ Hisoka shrieked, trying to shove Tsuzuki's face away. From the corner of his eye Tsuzuki saw red marks swelling on Hisoka's flailing hands. Unthinkingly he grabbed them as Hisoka managed to pull himself away. Losing his balance, Hisoka landed on his back, his wrists caught in Tsuzuki's hands. He screamed, the way a terrified child screams while being beaten, the way an injured horse screams before one can no longer stand the shrieking and has to put the animal out of its misery. His wide emerald eyes were clouded; they weren't seeing the amethysts that belonged to Tsuzuki, but the circles of steel that belonged to Muraki.

Tsuzuki pulled Hisoka off the ground and against his torso. Hisoka thrashed, his movements growing progressively weaker as Tsuzuki's hold refused to weaken. Tsuzuki clasped Hisoka's head to his shoulder and tried again.

"Hisoka, he's not here, it's just me, it's just Tsuzuki, please, Hisoka, _please_!"

The last bit of fight deserted Hisoka and his body fell still. For an eternity of three seconds he was silent, and then…wailing. Dry sobs and heaves, as his fingers curled in to Tsuzuki's shirt. Tsuzuki willed his arms to relax but Hisoka remained clinging to him. Tsuzuki felt rather than saw Hisoka's eyes restore to their natural state and his brain depart from memory and enter the present.

Another weight shifted and Miya knelt down beside the pair. Slowly, she bowed her face into the dirt, and then rested her head against Hisoka's leg.

"I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly, tears pouring into her mouth. "I should have come out…I should have done more…you were my friend…I'm so sorry, Hisoka-_kun_…" She choked on a sob and her words turned into dust.

Tsuzuki buried his face in Hisoka's hair and quietly began to cry.

* * *

When Tsuzuki returned home in the late afternoon, Hisoka cradled limply in his arms, he first put his fiancé to bed and then went about keeping his hands busy, trying desperately to keep his mind off the previous hours. 

The sudden appearance of a rain shower did not help.

When night fell and he prepared for bed, one look at Hisoka's tearstained faced sent him with a blanket and pillow to a fitful, uneasy sleep on the living room couch.

At first he thought the couch cushions lightly shifting was part of his dream. It wasn't until something spoke that he woke up completely.

"Why the h-ll are you sleeping down here?"

"I didn't…couldn't disturb you," Tsuzuki replied. "Why are you down here?"

"Couldn't sleep anymore," Hisoka answered simply. "The rain woke me up."

"Have you resolved your issues, going back there?"

"With my parents, yes. Wasn't exactly hard. I'm glad, actually, that they don't have any remorse. Otherwise I'd have some tie to them. Still hurts like h-ll, though."

"What about…?" Tsuzuki cautiously let his hand fall on Hisoka's face. Hisoka twitched. Tsuzuki's hand faltered, and then resolutely curled around the base of Hisoka's skull, pulling Hisoka's head underneath his chin.

"Do you remember the first time we saw rain together?"

Hisoka made an "mm" noise in his throat.

"It was after our first case," Tsuzuki continued, "when you were kidnapped and we had to escape from that factory. I told you that I would protect you from then on and you asked me why I cared. I told you "Because you're my partner". That was four years ago. And that still hasn't changed."

Hisoka pulled his head backed and looked up into Tsuzuki's face.

"There's a euphemism—is that the word?—for a couple like us. "Life partners". I think people usually find it insulting, but I think it's perfect."

"How so?"

"There's something I figured out about partners, work- or life-. They're _part_ of a team and therefore _part_ of each other. They have to work in a way that benefits them both, otherwise the partnership falls _a_part. What's good for one _has_ to be good for the other. And in this case, _you're_ the one who has to decide what's good for us."

"What are you on about?" There was no callousness, only curiosity.

"Hisoka…I couldn't bear it, if I ever heard you scream like that again." He softly leaned his forehead against Hisoka's. "So what you have to decide…if you want to put off lovemaking, if you want to try and forget and fight Muraki and your parents off even just a little bit more, then that's what I want, too. For me to deny you that decision would end both our partnerships. I can't…won't let that happen. I love you. What makes you happy makes me happy. What's good for you is what'll be good for me."

"Tsuzuki…" Hisoka swallowed, hard, and buried his face in Tsuzuki's collarbone. Tsuzuki waited in silence for what could have been two minutes or two hours; he was drifting into sleep when a tearful, shuddery breath reawakened his senses.

"I want…I want you…to make love to me…on the night we get married."

Tsuzuki curled himself against Hisoka.

"Then that's what I want."

Outside, the clouds spat out the last dying droplets of rainwater.

* * *

_But I'm alive_

_I survived you_

_And the bitter taste_

_The years I've wasted_

_All the hate is gone_

_'Cause I'm alive_


	11. In And Out With The Old

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yami no Matsuei

**Shout-outs:**

jennamarie: Nasty? In what way?

"Little bout of self-torture"…yeah, that's accurate. "Put the past behind him…" HAKUNA MATATA! Tee-hee, sorry, that just reminded me of the Lion King.

(Snuggles Tsuzuki and Hisoka) I love that ending to pieces. Of course Tsuzuki is so understanding; that's why I love them! (Snuggles them some more)

Aacire: IMHO, the more angsty and emotional, the better.

I love your description of Hisoka's parents. As the author, I'm also glad he's never going to see them again. That doesn't mean he won't go back to Kanagawa, though…(Am shameless tease)

Here's the update! The wedding is next chapter!

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: AEK, you don't know how much I love getting your reviews. The fact that someone tells me that my writing effects them so much that they hold their breath throughout most of the chapter, and then actually start crying, makes me really feel like I'm doing my job, you know? Thank you—a lot.

Enough with the anomaly! (Grins) (SchnoogleGlomps AEK)

Amen to your postscript.

Eternity's Heir: (As an aside, I happen to love your penname.) Thank you very much! ("I've always relied on the compliments of strangers!" BTW, where is that quote from, do you know?) I'm so happy that you all…enjoyed (? Not the right word, but for now…) that second to last scene, especially because I keep telling myself that I could've done more/better!

About Tsubaki…believe me, I think Manga-Tsubaki is a mucking foron (purposeful letter switch) who kinda deserved it (Like Tomoe from Rurouni Kenshin), but Anime-Tsubaki was just so innocent and sweet, because unlike her Manga counterpart she had no idea what was going on. I'm glad that you're beginning to like her. Doubly glad that it's because of me. Y'all spoil me too much with your compliments.

Those lyrics at the beginning and end of chapter 10 are from "I'm Alive" by Heather Nova, which describes Hisoka to a T, I think. The lyrics in chapter 9 are from "Wash Away Those Years" by Creed, which was just a general theme for all the girls and Hisoka. And I wish I had thought of it sooner, but in the chapter where Tsuzuki sees Ruka again I should've incorporated lyrics from "Good-Bye" by Natalie Imbruglia. That song is perfect for him, and even more so for that situation.

**Side Note #1:** A picture of Wakaba's miko outfit can be found at "http/www. barthe.ch/jgallery/big/miko. jpg" if you remove the spaces. Also, traditional Shinto requires miko to be virgins or, in a less suggestive sense, be loyal only to the shrine. However, my research says that women with loyalties outside the shrine can still be miko based on strength of character. So Miko!Wakaba/Terazuma is still possible.

Also, the colors red and white symbolize human union with the gods. They're the traditional colors of Shinto miko.

**Side Note #2:** I had this really awesome YnM dream a couple nights ago. I was reading volume 11, and Hisoka was sitting with Tsuzuki and the Shiki. He was talking about his dreams to master a really powerful Shiki and Seiryuu proceeded to tell him he's an idiot. Hisoka stormed away and sat down against a cliff somewhere, and he actually started crying. Suddenly Tsuzuki appeared behind him. He kissed Hisoka's shoulder, saying, "I love you." They started talking—I forget what they said—and Hisoka somehow wound up sitting on Tsuzuki's lap. Tsuzuki kissed his cheek and said, "I love you" again. Hisoka kinda spazzed, and Tsuzuki said, "Not like that" (at first I thought, "Great, Matsushita's doing that 'they're totally in love but not really!' thing again, but then I figured that Hisoka's sitting on his lap so maybe he thought Tsuzuki was talking about…well, you know). Then they started heading back to the city. Hisoka asked why they weren't heading back to his hotel room. It cut to Tsuzuki sitting on his bed and Hisoka standing in the doorframe trying to leave. Tsuzuki said, "Hisoka" and reached his arm out. Hisoka looked at him, and then in the next panel Tsuzuki and Hisoka were sleeping, facing each other, looking so peaceful. And then my dream self stopped reading the book, went home with my father, and ate Fruit Loops for dinner (WTF?).

Needless to say, I woke up feeling very happy, especially since this was my first YnM dream (REM dream, not daydream, which I have plenty of and are usually self-induced). In the spirit of the SCUSA threads at Fiction Alley: TheirloveissoFruitLoops!

**Side Note #3:** I made up some dates for Wakaba, Tatsumi, and Watari. I made it so Wakaba was born in 1927 and died in 1945, and I made it so Tatsumi was born in 1916 and also died in 1945 (remember that as this will be a plot point in—I think—chapter 15). Matsushita says Watari was born in 1953, and I made him die in 1980. For anyone with fuzzy math skills, that means Wakaba is 18, Tatsumi is 29, and Watari is 27.

**Side Note #4:** OVER 4000 HITS FOR SECOND DEATH! W00T! YOU GUYS ROCK!

* * *

In And Out With The Old

* * *

"Wow, this thing's _buried_."

Wakaba was currently pawing through her closet, trying to disentangle a hangar from a large, entwined group of others. She had not worn her shrine outfit in decades; she had been desperately hoping that her chihaya hadn't yellowed with age. Her hibakama was fortunately the same bright red it had always been, and she had managed to stumble into the bottom half of her outfit while digging through the closet finding the top half.

Chihaya in hand, she posed in front of her full-length mirror on her bedroom wall, holding it up against her torso. When had she last worn this?…Oh yes, at the last wedding she had officiated at. The last wedding in Meifu, 55 years ago. The miko both in Chijou and Meifu, who had died regretting not finding her own source of happiness even as she sincerely congratulated the two who celebrated theirs.

The thought of a pointy-eared, Shiki-possessed, chain-smoking ex-cop crossed her mind briefly and she blushed to herself as she pulled her chihaya onto her upper body. Tying off her hibakama, she inspected herself in the mirror. She looked the part of the proper miko, that was for sure.

She squealed, almost involuntarily. _Finally_! It felt like it had been 10 long, quiet years since Tsuzuki and Hisoka had announced their engagement. But it also felt like 5 minutes since she had been asked to officiate. Once she had heard someone joke that the most nervous person at a wedding is the mother of the bride. Well, there was no bride at this wedding, but she _had_ been somewhat of a maternal figure for Tsuzuki in the years she had known him, so did that count…?

"Kannuki! Are you building a bridge in there or something? What's taking so long?"

"Don't rush me, Hajime!" Wakaba yelled back, a little more snappishly than she meant to. "I need to be in a _pure_ spiritual state and yelling at me is not going to help!"

Wakaba heard him slam the refrigerator door downstairs, the clinking of glass signaling he had smuggled a bottle of something from her stock.

"And be careful what you drink! Some of that is needed for the wedding, you know!"

Terazuma sent back an irritated grunt and Wakaba sighed. Terazuma was her escort to the wedding. She wasn't sure why; she could just as easily pass through the Suzaku gates alone, as she had done it thousands of times before, but he had insisted, so…

She cleared her throat and attempted clearing her mind. A product of all three major Japanese religions—Shinto from her father, Buddhism from her mother, and Catholicism from her aunt—meditation had been a part of her life since her memories began. Unfortunately, serenity seemed elusive to her at the moment, as the noises of Terazuma from downstairs and her jangled nerves were hindering her pursuit of peace.

Wakaba made a loud, frustrated noise and capitulated. She wasn't going to have any tranquility today; she just knew it.

"Kannuki, you're opening the Suzaku Gate, so shouldn't you be there first?"

"Hajime, if you bother me one more time I'm going to summon a fuda scroll and make you sprout horns!" Wakaba through back her sliding door and glared angrily.

"Wow."

Wakaba blinked in surprise as Terazuma took his cigarette out to stare at her. Nervously she looked down, making sure everything was on properly.

"It's just my miko outfit," Wakaba said, smoothing out the fabric. "And the red clashes with my hair…"

"Oh, uh, that reminds me." Terazuma coughed into his hand and fumbled in his suit pocket. "Red and white're the only colors you can wear, right?"

"Yes, that's the tradition," Wakaba said.

"Here." Terazuma unearthed a small cloth pouch and shoved it into her hand, putting his cigarette back in his mouth. "I knew you wouldn't find your own. I mean, you lose stuff so easy, and…so…thought you might, y'know, need this…"

Wakaba untied the strings and let the blue pouch open up in her hand. Lying in her palm was a white hair ribbon, red dyed into it in semi-diagonal stripes.

"Hajime!" Even her eyes smiled. "Thank you! You're right, I couldn't find my own." Wakaba pulled her hair off her face and expertly tied the ribbon like a shoelace, leaving a wide cascade of ponytail atop the under layer of her hair. "Oh, I could just kiss you!"

"Don't!" Terazuma jumped back, looking panicked.

"Of course I wouldn't, Hajime," Wakaba said, brushing her hair smooth. "Kuro's rather touchy like that. But, thank you. That was very thoughtful of you."

"Yeah, whatever," Terazuma said, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Hajime, could you…?"

"What? Oh, this?" Terazuma pulled his cigarette out of his mouth. "Got no ashtray."

"…It's okay," Wakaba assured. "Just be careful where you blow your smoke, okay?"

"Yeah…I'll be careful," Terazuma promised.

"Um…sorry, do you mind?" Wakaba gestured apologetically at her door. "I really should try to get in some meditation before the ceremony…"

"Oh, yeah…you should. Wait…do you have any food in this place? All I saw in the fridge was a bottle of root beer…"

"Oh, it's all in the pantry," Wakaba said. "But I don't have much…my paycheck's not in this week. Hope you like Fruits Loops; that's basically all I have."

Terazuma made a face.

"I take it you don't like them?"

"I'll survive eating them," Terazuma conceded.

Wakaba giggled. "I can see it's a great compromise on your part, Hajime. Here, I'll share in your pain and eat with you."

"Shouldn't you…?"

"Oh, I won't be able to meditate; I'm too jittery," Wakaba said. "C'mon…you're already my date to the reception; be my breakfast date, too."

The tips of Terazuma's ears reddened, just slightly.

* * *

(A/N: Sorry. I couldn't help myself. TheirloveissoFruitsLoops!)

* * *

"_Oi_, Tatsumi!"

Tatsumi gave a sudden shudder of surprise and turned around. A certain blonde-haired scientist was bounding towards him with energy Tatsumi couldn't fathom himself ever having.

"How you feeling?" Watari asked, now safely beside Tatsumi and able to keep his voice down a little.

"Well. I'm feeling well," Tatsumi said, a tad uncomfortably. He and Watari had barely spoken since their impromptu talk in Watari's laboratory, aside from the usual work-appropriate greetings and Watari's more than occasional intrusions into Tatsumi's office, which weren't so much talking as they were Watari babbling and Tatsumi being distracted.

"I went to lots of weddings when I was alive," Watari continued, rambling. "They're always pretty emotional. So if you wanna cry on my shoulder, I'm right here for you."

"I'm quite capable of handling myself at public functions, thanks," Tatsumi said dryly.

"Yes, but I have a feeling you're a big softie inside," Watari teased, poking Tatsumi playfully in the stomach.

"Please don't do that."

"Speak almost obvious truths or poke you?"

"Both."

Watari sighed mock-ruefully. "I like you, Tatsumi, truly, but you're infuriating sometimes."

"Then maybe we should call off our little liaison tonight."

"Really, Tatsumi, you make it sound like we're having an affair," Watari said. "And there is no way I'm calling it off. You owe me a proper date after your little bout of anti-social behavior. Plus, I haven't seen anyone since 1980, and 20 years is quite a long wait, even for immortal Shinigami like us, don't you think?"

"I suppose," Tatsumi said musingly. "I've never dated, so I can't give any true insight."

"Eek! Never dated? Ever? Tatsumi, I feel sorry for you. To never have been romantic with anybody! I can't fathom it."

"So I suppose you're the expert, Watari?" Tatsumi asked wryly.

"As a matter of fact, Tatsumi, I had a significant other in…Chijou."

Tatsumi had to turn and look at Watari with his sudden shift in tone. Watari's eyes, eyes that one knew were looking at them even when they could not see the eyes themselves, had moved away from Tatsumi and cast themselves at the ground. The light of Watari's golden pupils seemed to have inverted into his mind, and his lips turned in on themselves in a frown.

"And what happened there?" Tatsumi asked.

"Let's just say it didn't turn out well," Watari said flatly.

"Were you that awful a boyfriend?"

"Tatsumi." Both Watari and Tatsumi stopped walking and Tatsumi felt himself compelled to turn and look at Watari completely. The death of mirth in his eyes sent a little pang of something like fear in Tatsumi's chest.

"Don't ever talk like that again," Watari said, his voice monotone, his gaze almost murderous.

"Watari?"

"I mean it. I won't associate with you if you ever say something like that again. What happened isn't something you joke about."

Tatsumi pulled back a little bit, his face a question mark. "Watari, what—?"

As if a spell was broken, Watari's eyes returned to their normal state almost with a snap. Watari pressed his fingers to his forehead and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. His lower lip was thankful not to be chewed into pieces.

"Oh dear," he murmured worriedly. "That was…I'm sorry, Tatsumi. You don't know…"

"What? I don't know what?"

Watari waved his hand, desperately dismissive of the topic. "Never mind. This isn't something for right now…this wedding's already got enough drama attached to it without me adding _my_ tragic past to the roster."

"If you say so," Tatsumi said shortly.

"Come on, don't be like that," Watari importuned, tapping Tatsumi's shoulder with his fist. "Really, Tatsumi, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that. It's not your fault, for what happened, or for not _knowing_ what happened, for that matter."

"You can drop it at any time, Watari."

"Good, that's what I'll do," Watari said, shedding his frown and replacing it with a painfully forced smile. He pushed his arm through Tatsumi's, linking them together around the elbows. "I mean it, though, I'm sorry."

"It's fine…it's fine," Tatsumi said, the slightest bit unnerved but not allowing, never allowing, himself to show it. Awkwardly, the fingers from his free arm tapped the back of the hand Watari had curled around his wrist.

"You're too affectionate, Tatsumi," Watari teased with a purr. "Really, you _must_ learn to behave yourself in public."

"I take it you want me to continue without you," Tatsumi said, making to pull his arm away from Watari's.

"Uh-uh-uh," Watari corrected, keeping his hold on Tatsumi. "I'm not letting you escape that easily."

* * *

"Suzaku-_neechan_, you look pretty!"

There was something decidedly cute when Tenko offered her sincere compliment.

There was something equally creepy when Byakko offered the same compliment, in an age mentality that matched Tenko's, and voice that seemed to be Tenko's tailor-made male counterpart.

"Thank you, Tenko-_chan, _you look very pretty as well," Suzaku said, deliberately ignoring the hyperactive white tiger who seemed to have consumed an amount of sugar double that of the average 5-year-old. Suzaku briefly wondered how Byakko would have fared as a diabetic.

"Um…" Tenko looked slightly nervous, bouncing as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "These are for you!"

Suzaku barely had time to think before Tenko was shoving a bouquet of flowers in her arms. She blinked, trying to regain her wits, as the otherwise gentle fragrance of each individual flower threatened to overpower her sense of smell as a group.

"Why…why, thank you, Tenko-_chan_. When did you get these?"

"Oh, they're not from me," Tenko corrected. "Well, _that_ one is," she amended, pointing to the odd pink flower out of the dozen or so white ones. "But the rest of them are from—"

"Me."

"You." Anger, confusion, surprise, and plain reaction were all mixed in Suzaku's voice as her eyes beheld her self-proclaimed nemesis. Taimou floated eerily behind him, like a bad smell or a guilty conscience. "Should I be on guard with these? They're going to detonate and spray me with water in 5 seconds, aren't they?"

"No," Touda said, cocking his eyebrow at her. "Taimou thought it was a good idea that I act like we want to be here together, lest we set Tenkuu aflame. And a little bird let slip that you like those…"

Both Byakko and Tenko looked slightly guilty, and Taimou smirked. Suzaku couldn't tell which one deserved her patented Death Glare™ the most, so she cast her angry stare about the room in general.

"Calm yourself, Suzaku," Taimou urged collectedly. "We don't want today ruined."

Suzaku sent an annoyed squawk, like the bird she represented, at Taimou, and crossed her arms, the flowers rustling as she did so. "And what am I supposed to do with them, Taimou?"

"I can make a bracelet for you!" Tenko offered, snatching the bouquet out of Suzaku's hands and pulling a white flower from the bunch. Expertly she twisted the vine-like stem into a loop and curled it around the base of the bud for security. "Here!" She slapped the impromptu bracelet into Suzaku's hand. "Put it on, put it on!"

"Yes, yes, calm down, Tenko-_chan_," Suzaku assured, fitting her hand through the ring. Tenko tightened the bracelet around her wrist so the white blossom sat primly and firmly at the bottom of the back of Suzaku's hand.

"It matches," Touda commented, looking at the white of the blossom against the white of Suzaku's uniform.

"It does, doesn't it," Suzaku said shortly.

Touda, in mock—or was it a veritable attempt?—delicacy, took her blossomed hand and raised it to his lips, kissing where her fingers met her palm. Instantly she felt her blood boil.

"_What_ are you doing?" she screeched.

"Being chivalrous," Touda answered, smiling smugly at her. "I believe that is considered appropriate…?"

"You are _so_ full of it!" Suzaku snapped, wrenching her hand away. "Tenko-_chan_, come on, let's leave the horrid boys and their vile enabler." She shot a nasty glare at Taimou as she grabbed Tenko's hand and pulled the smaller girl away.

"I think the lady doth protest too much," Taimou murmured in a singsong voice, watching Suzaku march away with Tenko tripping along behind her.

"The means she likes Touda too, right?" Byakko asked from where he was batting his tail.

Touda snorted. "I disagree, Taimou. She hates me."

"That'll change," Taimou predicted sagely. "Get enough alcohol in her, and it'll change."

"Thanks, Taimou," Touda said sarcastically.

"Hm-hmm. You're welcome."

* * *

"Hello, hello! Is everybody decent? Can I _entré_?"

"I'd avoid the French accent, Tsubaki-_hime_," Hisoka said, opening the door to the small room Tenkuu had sanctioned off for him.

"_There's_ the blushing…groom." Tsubaki smiled brilliantly and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. "It feels like I haven't talked to you since I gave you that reading, and that was weeks ago. How did it turn out?"

"So accurate that I really don't want to elaborate on it," Hisoka said flatly.

"Ooh." Tsubaki cringed. "Sorry." She pecked his cheek. "By the way, I saw Tsuzuki a few minutes ago. He looked nervous as all get-out. I tried to talk to him, but he seemed too jumpy to concentrate. It's very sweet." She crinkled her nose and smiled. "How about you, Hisoka? Are you feeling okay?"

"What do I look like?"

"Well, you're a great actor, Hisoka," Tsubaki observed. "So if this is anything like when you were pretending to be Azumi…you're shaking in your boots, as the saying goes."

Hisoka blew air upwards and sat down.

"Tsubaki-_hime_ always knows," Tsubaki said, teasing and ironic, as she sat down beside him. "What is it? Stage fright? Fears of trouble in paradise?"

"No, not really," Hisoka said hesitantly. "Tsubaki-_hime_, it's…personal…"

Tsubaki reached over and mocked zipping Hisoka's lips shut. "Then don't tell me," she said reassuringly. "I'll just sit here and keep you company until it's show time."

"Okay."

Tsubaki disinterestedly fiddled with the fabric of her dress.

Hisoka very determinedly studied the wall.

"Is it something you should talk to Tsuzuki about?" Tsubaki blurted out.

"No," Hisoka said firmly.

"But if it has something to do with your marriage, shouldn't you discuss it with him?" Tsubaki pressed, concerned.

"He and I have already discussed it. I think _me_ bringing it up would only serve to scare him."

"Well…is there someone you can send to go talk to him?" Tsubaki tried again. "Someone who knows about it?"

"No. There's no one else."

"Well, can you think of _anyone_ that you wouldn't mind sharing the secret with?" Tsubaki offered, feeling herself growing slightly exasperated. "You're starting to scare me a little, Hisoka. There has to be _some_ kind of go-between for you two. You shouldn't go through with this if there's something holding you back."

"I'm _not_ holding back, Tsubaki-_hime_, I just…"

"What?"

"Look, I caught a whiff of Tsuzuki's emotions this morning, and I know what he's nervous about. If I bring it up now, it'll…it'll ruin what we planned…"

"Hisoka…" Tsubaki rested her hand atop Hisoka's. "Listen. You're my friends and I love you both. I'm not going to let you do something this important if there's _anything_ that you're doubting. Believe me, Hisoka, when you haven't squared everything away with your lover, it'll come back and haunt you."

She swallowed very quickly. Hisoka felt her hand clam up.

"Now, is there _anyone_, anyone at all, that you think could act as a conduit for you?"

Hisoka looked away, his mind scuba diving into its recesses to try and surface a name, a face, anyone that Tsuzuki could talk to…

"I think…I know someone."

* * *

"Again, with this not responding to your sister. Really, Asato-_otouto_, where _were_ you when they handed out the manners?"

Tsuzuki blinked, stared, and blinked again. She still was. Still young, still beautiful, still incorrigibly pushy. Still, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the girl he grew up with.

"Ruka-_nee_…"

"Ah-ah-ah," she said, wagging her finger back and forth. "Where's my hug?"

Impulsively, hastily, Tsuzuki pulled Ruka into his arms and strengthened his embrace around her. Her hands flapped uselessly at her sides; her arms pinned against her.

"Okay, okay, enough, enough," she said, squirming. "It's been awhile, hasn't it? I'm guessing by how handsome you look, the fact that this is a palace, and the fact that I can skim through the surface of my summoner's thoughts, that you're finally getting married today, huh?"

"Yes," Tsuzuki said, pulling back. "But what are you…?"

"Hmm." Ruka squinted her eyes, concentrating. "Looks like…there's something your groom-to-be wants me to talk to you about. Fairly important, but I'm just not picking up on what it is, exactly."

"Oh…wow," Tsuzuki murmured, taken aback. "Hisoka actually…"

"Well, what is it?" Ruka questioned, cutting him off. "I can't be here all day. You're going to be busy." She winked. "What's wrong? Are you getting cold feet?" She poked Tsuzuki teasingly.

"No, definitely not," Tsuzuki said categorically. "I've been looking forward to this ceremony from the second I first thought about it. I want more than _anything_ to marry him."

"Then what's the problem?" Ruka asked, sitting down and gesturing for Tsuzuki to do the same. "If it's not the wedding you're worried about, what's making you look as nervous as the cat that stole the fish heads?"

Tsuzuki remembered that she had always liked that expression.

"It's not the wedding. It's what comes…_after_."

"You mean…?"

Tsuzuki nodded.

"Asato-_otouto_, all married couples—"

"No, no, that's not it…exactly."

"You're talking in circles, hon. Tell me what's wrong."

Tsuzuki bit his lip. "Do you…do you remember that girl who lived near us? Sonoko Madoka?"

"That poor girl who was ra-…oh. _Oh_." Realization dawned on Ruka's face. "Oh, _no_…and you've…you've never…?"

Tsuzuki shook his head again. "With no one."

"Great. A rape victim and a virgin. Terrific combination." Ruka looked ready to spit with anger at the thought. "I hope the rat b-st-rd's who did it's _paying_ for it."

"It's not just that," Tsuzuki said. "It was his family, too. They were _awful_ to him. He grew up thinking he was worthless."

"So did you."

"Yeah, but Ruka-_nee_, even if I thought the world hated me, I _knew_ I had you, and Mom, and Dad. He never had that. And it's only been 4 years since he died…it's still so fresh in his mind."

Tsuzuki's fingers gripped the fabric of his pants. His hands threatened to shake.

"I've…I've heard him scream in his sleep from nightmares and…Ruka-_nee_, it makes me want to claw my ears off so I can't hear it anymore. He's…he's…he's gonna hate me for saying this but he's so _fragile_. He's like a dog that expects to be kicked. I feel like…I feel like…like if I touch him the wrong way or if I hold him too hard he'll…he'll just crumble up and…and I can't _do that_ to him. He's been trying to tell me that's it's okay…I told him it was his decision and he said it was fine but…it turns my _stomach_—and you know how hard _that_ is to do—to think that I might…even accidentally…"

"Okay, okay, don't upset yourself," Ruka urged, taking Tsuzuki's hand. "Asato-_otouto_, you listen to your sister now, okay?"

Tsuzuki swallowed and nodded mutely.

"You've gone through a lot in your lifetime, too, and I bet even more has happened since I died.But look where you are now. You're in love and you're getting married. Remember that this is consensual—you both agreed to this and neither of you are backing out. I think he sent me here to talk to you because he needed someone to remind you of that. And I think you _have_ to do this. It's going to help you both move on. Isn't that what love's supposed to do? Help people grow? I think Mom told me that when Shinji and I got engaged…anyway. Look, I _know_ Mom taught me this…did she tell you that Lao Tzu quote?"

Tsuzuki shook his head.

""To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage"," Ruka recited. "I want you to hold that in mind for the rest of today and tonight. Think about it—he's trusting you enough to do this to him. To do this _for_ him. He's giving himself strength by loving you and _you're_ giving him courage by loving him. And if he's doing the same for you, then you're the perfect match and the blessings of Heaven be upon you."

She winked again and stood up, brushing out her kimono.

"Helpful, I hope? You're never too old or too dead to learn from your older sister. Asato-_otouto_, I really have to go. I'm getting some "Hurry up and go back to Heaven" vibes from your fiancé here. He's gonna need time to recover from me possessing him before the ceremony, so any lingering of _this_ spirit has got to end."

She reached out her hands for Tsuzuki to take hold off, and she pulled him to his feet.

"You keep in mind what I said, okay? You're going to be very happy and I'm so glad for you. I just wish I could stick around to see the ceremony…"

She cupped his face between her hands and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Ah, come on, Asato-_otouto_. You're making me cry again. And look, you're going at it, too!" Smiling through the glistening tears on her lids she moved her thumbs to wipe the moisture from Tsuzuki's eyes.

"Yeah," Tsuzuki half-choked, half-laughed, smiling and crying at the same time. "I can't get upset now. I'm getting married."


	12. Détente

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yami no Matsuei

**Shout-outs:**

Stratus5: I know, I just love Terazuma/Wakaba. I have a soft spot for Clueless-and-shy/Not-clueless-but-equally-shy pairings. As for Suzaku/Touda, theirloveissoDracyandElizabeth! They've got a true Pride and Prejudice scenario. They'll be so much fun to write next chapter. I'm also so glad I planned Ruka to talk to Tsuzuki again. I didn't want Hisoka's Illusory Magic plot point to be a one-time thing, because that's too PastedeOnPlotPointYAY! Besides, I felt like I was ignoring Tsuzuki. He's still…oops, that's for chapter 14.

pinecone-master: A new fan! (Glomps)

PumpkinPie-4ever aka Lynn: Oy…the return of the not-really-reviews. Anyway. Thank you. I'm glad the minor characters got a chance to shine.

AnimeAngelRin: Yay, another new fan! (Glomps) It's the same with me…if I go a day without doing something related to YnM, some cosmic power is interfering. Hee…you're going to print it out? Seriously? EEK! (Glomps) I'm really not worthy of all this praise! Remind me to come here whenever I need a self-esteem boost. Out of curiosity, what do you disagree with?

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: "Schnoogle" means "novel-length". I see SchnoogleGlomps as being a huge glomp accompanied by snuggling and nuzzling. (SchnoogleGlomps AEK) What should our anomaly's name be?

It makes me both happy and sad that we're at the wedding. Happy because…well, it's the wedding! Sad because this means I'm closer to the end then ever. I'm only going up to 16 chapters. My little baby's growing up! (Cries) Luckily though, I think my baby will have it's own babies in the forms of side stories.

I adore Ruka as well. She turned out so differently than how I initially imagined her, but I think I like her better this way. She's Tsuzuki's guardian angel, and I _might_ have Hisoka summon her once more. And Tsuzuki…I kinda want to marry him now, too. Lucky b-st-rd Hisoka…

You can read that Side Note #2! Don't be scared of it. I wasn't dreaming of the _actual_ manga, just what my subconscious wants volume 11 to be. And actually, Matsushita-_sensei_ has 13 volumes out in Japan, but there's only 11 out in America. And SQUEE! She's starting the series again this year!

Terazuma/Wakaba…I think it's my 4th favorite pairing. Too cute! Now, for Watari. You will find out all about that in chapter 15, as well as some things about Tatsumi. I need angsty Watari/Tatsumi because it's so d-mn difficult to write really good Watari/Tatsumi without it! Besides, like Saya and Yuma, Watari needs a regret to have died with and since we haven't yet been provided a detailed one, I just made one up. And as for Touda/Suzaku, you can really read the manga as Touda having a crush on Suzaku ("I made her mad again…was it something I said?"). Hee, it's going to be so much fun to write T/S!

Neko Kate-chan: Yeah, AEK already pointed that out to me…I have to go back and fix all those typos eventually…

Eternity's Heir: I know, it's so much easier to like Anime-Tsubaki because she wasn't a moron. Naïve, yes, but not an idiot who lied to cover for Muraki. And go check out those songs! They're all excellent!

Aacire: Thank you, thank you! Tsuzuki-Ruka brother-sister interaction is always a plus in my book. You'll find out about Watari (and Tatsumi) in chapter 15!

**Side Note #1**: My knowledge of Japanese weddings is still extremely limited because I know the procedures but not the actual things that are said and done. So this is going to be one unusual wedding service. If there are any practitioners of Shinto reading this: PLEASE TAKE NO OFFENSE! To everyone who is not Shinto: PLEASE DO NOT THINK THIS IS AN ACTUAL SHINTO WEDDING! This was the best I could do with the information I had and my imagination. Here's the basic rundown of the things in this chapter.

1. Wakaba's prayer – Part of the Amatsu Norito, a Shinto purification prayer. I took the most secular part of it, because I didn't want to delve very deeply into the beliefs of the characters and risk offending/confusing people.

2. Rice paper – After purifying the room, the Shinto priest lays rice paper on the floor. I made Wakaba do it beforehand just because. (Speaking of Wakaba, technically she shouldn't be officiating, only attending, because she's a miko and not a priest, but she's the closest religious figure offered to us, so she's in charge of it all.)

3. Tatami – Mats. You sit on them. That's pretty much it.

4. Sakaki branch – The Sakaki Tree is a sacred tree in Shinto, as its mentioned in one of the holy texts in Shinto. (Traditional Shinto is oral, but there are two holy books.)

5. "Musuhi" and "Makoto" – "Musuhi" is the creative power of the spirits, and "Makoto" is the sincerity of heart Shinto adherents strive for.

6. San-san-kudo – The sake ceremony that I explained in chapter 5. The prayers were modified into vows for my own nefarious plot purposes.

7. Ema – Wooden tablets with wishes written on them, left at shrines by visitors in hopes that the wishes will come true.

8. Sign of the infinity – A sideways figure 8. This isn't a Shinto practice, but it's appropriate for weddings. The Infinity is basically two circles, meaning that whatever is being blessed is unending, and those circles are interwoven, meaning that whatever is being blessed is interconnected. I personally interpret the fact that it's a sideways 8, and not an upright 8, to indicate that the two circles (people) are on equal footing. Unending, interconnected, equal…pretty sweet set-up.

**Side Note #2:** I've changed my plans from a dialogue-only chapter. I tried to do it, but it felt kinda unnatural and it lacked the power I was going for.

**Side Note #3:** I shamefully stole some ideas from Yami no Matsuei and Mars. Sue me. Actually, don't. There was just so much to offer from those sources that I couldn't pass them up. Using the YnM sources is poignant. Using Mars is just a good idea, because Kira/Rei is totally Hisoka/Tsuzuki.

**Side Note #4:** "Détente" – (French, noun, "Day-tahnt") a lessening of tensions.

* * *

Détente

* * *

"With all the respect from the depths of our hearts, we ask that they hear us, such as the spirit that hears our intent with sharpened ears, together with spirits of the land and sky: Take the badness, disasters, and sins, and purify all."

There was some strange kind of enchantment around Wakaba, some clarity in her mismatched eyes as she completed her circle around the room, ending the purification ritual. The floor, covered in rice paper, crinkled under her feet as she walked to the center of the room, closer to the far wall than to the congregation gathered, sitting on the floor and watching her every move. She glanced down at the twin tatami on the floor, and keeping her eyes open, called out.

"Enter."

Simultaneously, on either side of the room, two doors opened, and hesitantly, nervously, unsure, Tsuzuki and Hisoka crossed their individual thresholds and slowly made their ways onto the tatami.

As they knelt down, Wakaba raised a single sakaki branch over their heads. Tied to the branches by red and white strings were two slips of paper, the kanji for Musuhi and Makoto written lengthwise in red ink upon them. Her wrist folded and unfolded itself, letting the branch circle in the sign of the infinity, as she spoke again.

"With all the respect from the depths of our hearts, we ask that they hear us, such as the spirit that hears our intent with sharpened ears, together with spirits of the land and sky: Take the badness, disasters, and sins, and purify all."

Hisoka stared up at her hand, eyes wide and observant, and nearly jumped when he felt something brush his own hand. He looked down, and then traveled up the path that led to looking into Tsuzuki's eyes, his smiling and scared eyes welling with every appropriate emotion conceivable. He felt his own lips twist upwards in a miniscule paradigm of Tsuzuki's smile and spread his fingers, allowing Tsuzuki's matching appendages to fill in the spaces and curl into his palm, and he twisted those fingers to cover Tsuzuki's diagonally.

Wakaba smiled, a beam that seemed out of place in the solemnity of the room, but apt for coming from one of their friends. She lowered the branch and let it fall to the floor in front of Tsuzuki and Hisoka, the two slips of paper face up. Suppressing a squeal of pure joy, she turned around and addressed the room.

"Good morning."

There was a collective murmur of return greeting.

"On Tsuzuki and Hisoka's behalf I thank you all for coming. Like anyone would miss this, right?" She allowed herself a fan-girlish expression for a fleeting second and then regained her seriousness. "The ema you were asked to write your well-wishes on…please pass them to the end of your rows and stack them."

General movement, as the group attempted to figure out which direction to pass the ema in, and finally managed to achieve the task.

Wakaba went to a shelf that Tenkuu sported and took three cups, different sizes and neatly fitted into each other, and an unlabeled brown bottle. She returned to her spot and knelt down, un-stacking and placing the cups in a line. Serenely she poured a measure of liquid into each, but when she looked up her eyes were sparkling with excited energy. She stood and turned once again to their audience.

"With all the respect from the depths of our hearts, we ask that they hear us, such as the spirit that hears our intent with sharpened ears, together with spirits of the land and sky: Take the badness, disasters, and sins, and purify all."

She turned back to Tsuzuki and Hisoka, a smile lighting her face.

"You may begin."

And she stepped away, disappearing.

"First of all…thank you, for letting me see Ruka again. I really needed to see her."

Hisoka's mouth twitched another smile in acknowledgment.

"And I'm especially grateful because I know it takes a lot out of you. I know _I_ take a lot out of you."

The smile quickly flipped itself over in a frown.

"Don't deny it. We both know I do, and I'm sorry. But…in a weird way…I'm _not_ sorry. Because me being a burden for you means that I'm there with you…_for_ you. I swore I would protect you; I swore it all the way back to the days when you stuck a gun in my back and called me a vampire."

Hisoka snorted something like a laugh.

"I didn't like you much back then."

Again, though a bit louder.

"And yet…and yet…there was something about you I couldn't ignore. Something that wouldn't let me write you off as a snot-nosed, cocky teenager. When I found out…what had happened to you…I knew what it was. I couldn't let you go, or dislike you, because you were like me. Because you knew despair. You knew the pain of wounds that can't ever be fully healed. And I knew that I had to protect you because I couldn't let you end up like me. I considered you a child then."

Tsuzuki's hand pressed down on Hisoka's and he leaned in a little closer.

"I considered you a friend…a partner…when I found out you were willing to protect me, as well. When we synchronized in that factory…when you worried about my safety…that's when you became a partner. And you know—I've told you—what it means to be a partner to me."

Hisoka nodded, his eyes unblinking.

"Just before you asked me to marry you, you asked if it had been selfish of you to save me when I tried to kill myself. I told you it wasn't. I should've continued. I should've told you that it was selfish of _me_ to do that—to almost break the bond of our partnership without even thinking that it might hurt you. And I haven't properly apologized for it yet."

"Tsuzuki…"

Tsuzuki shook his head to silence Hisoka. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I forgot that you cared. I'm sorry I forgot you still needed me. I'm sorry I forgot that we're partners. I promise, I _promise_ that I won't ever forget that again. I know…that there are plenty of promises that I've broken…but this one I can't. I won't. My promise…my marriage vow is…I won't ever forget again. Ruka told me something today…a quote my mom told her when she got engaged…"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage." I'm going to do that…I'm going to hold on to that strength, that courage, and I'm never going to try and leave you again. When you cry out in your sleep, when you're in pain, I'll be by your side, no matter what. I promise you…I swear it."

Tsuzuki's free hand reached for the first cup, the smallest, and brought it to his mouth. He tipped it to his lips once, twice, three times, and on the third time he swallowed half the contents. As he passed it to Hisoka, the corners of his mouth tipped up in a smile.

"It's root beer, don't worry," he whispered.

Hisoka inhaled very sharply, sounding like he was holding something emotional back, as he took the cup from Tsuzuki's hand. After he had drained the cup of its liquid and set it down, he stared at a floor for a handful of seconds before looking up and into Tsuzuki's face.

"You're right…you do take a lot out of me."

Tsuzuki smiled.

"Knowing you, you haven't been paying much attention over the past four years. Because if you had, you'd know that I forgave you for Kyoto long ago."

But there was no callousness or sarcasm in Hisoka's voice, just something that sounded like understanding, like affection, like genuine exoneration.

"I've been making my marriage vows for years now. But…you wouldn't explicitly know…because I've been making them with actions and thoughts, not with words."

"That's so like you," Tsuzuki whispered fondly.

"You needn't swear never to leave me," Hisoka continued, "because I'm never going to let you. Nor will I leave you. I decided a long time ago that the only place I belong is in your heart. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm nothing if not stubborn and I don't give up."

"I noticed," Tsuzuki said, smiling.

"So I won't leave you. I'll never let go of you, not for any reason, never again, like I almost did 2 years ago. Even if everyone else disappears from your life, I'll stay with you. I'll follow you into any world that you dream of. I don't care where your crazy mind takes us, as long as I can be by your side. I…"

Hisoka trailed and paused, chewing his bottom lip.

"I…I no longer…want to remain in Meifu to get revenge on Muraki. I want to stay here…because _you're_ here."

Hisoka reached for the second, medium-sized cup. Tip, tip, sip. Pass. Tip, tip, sip.

"You're my partner."

"You're my life."

"I want to protect you."

"I want to live for you."

"I don't mind if you're afraid."

"I don't mind if you're an identity crisis on legs."

"I love you."

"I trust you."

"We can do this…"

"…with the two of us."

Tip, tip, sip. Pass. Tip, tip, sip.

Tsuzuki's free hand reached for Hisoka' face, Hisoka's hand gripped Tsuzuki's arm, and their mouths melded together in one confirming, one precious, one golden, one downright magical kiss that appeared to the congregation of friends to be as flawless as a lock turned by its corresponding key, in the utter rightness and perfection of the match.

Hisoka let his head drop onto Tsuzuki's shoulder and he closed his eyes, as if settling into a peaceful sleep underneath a warm, balmy comforter. Tsuzuki's own eyes closed as well; as he rested his head against Hisoka's he whispered again, "I love you", and somewhere from the silence where Hisoka usually kept his affection he whispered "I love you" back.

Outside their own universe, as if from a great distance across an open field, they heard Wakaba's gentle voice softly intoning a prayer once more.

"With all the respect from the depths of our hearts, we ask that they hear us, such as the spirit that hears our intent with sharpened ears, together with spirits of the land and sky: Take the badness, disasters, and sins, and purify all."


	13. This Year's Love

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yami no Matsuei. Edit: I am making no legal transgressions by including "Sigma", as it is a general translation of a Gaelic song and not the actual lyrics.

**Shout-outs:**

Amberle-chan: I love getting new fans. (Glomp) Thank you very much; you all make my day when I find out that I make you emotional.

jennamarie: There you are! I missed you! (Schnoogle) Thank you very much.

Lady Willowish: Another new fan! (Glomp) Thank you, thank you. I'm glad that people think I write well! I'm also glad you liked the vows.

Kiko812: I missed you too! (TackleGlomp) There's just chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16 to go! (Cries) But…read the fourth Side Note.

AnimeAngelRin: (Bows) Thank you, thank you. About Tsuzuki and Hisoka having "that" kind of a relationship…you'll see how that is going to turn out later. Also, you are a total sweetie. Thank you for the two extra reviews and the compliments!

elirian: Yet another n00b! (Glomp) Thank you much for your compliments.

Aacire: You wish it was part of the series? (Blush) Thank you…a lot.

Pumpkin-Pie 4ever aka Lynn: You are the greatest best friend in the world, you know that? (UberSchnoogleGlomps Pumpkin-Pie)

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: There you are! I was getting worried! (Glomps) I've read translations for all 13 volumes over at theria . net. I'm even planning a little one-shot based on them. And the greatest news of all: Matsushita-_sensei_ ends her hiatus this year!

I'm so glad you all liked the vows. There were a few times when I thought, "Okay, I'm rambling" or "This is too sappy" but I'm really happy with your reactions. To think that my fictional wedding can even compare to actual ones…it's all love between us, sweetie. (Pets George) This chapter is going to be mild and everyone-focused again (think chapter 2), but the next chapter is the honeymoon and we return to all the angsty-introspective romance.

Yuka Hasumi: Thank you, n00b! (Blush) Stick around for next chapter to get your answer!

**Side Note #1:** Over 5000 hits…I seriously love you guys. (Collective TackleUberSchnoogleGlomp)

**Side Note #2:** I've been informed that the legal age of heterosexual consent in Japan is 13, and the legal age for homosexual consent is 18.

**Side Note #3:** VOLUME 11! I GOT IT! SQUEE! Here are my notes:

Odd Things:

1. How Kijin and Tenko were born—from an overflow of Seiryuu's power—sounds an awful lot like The Birth of Venus.

2. I was under the impression that Water defeats Fire. And how did Kurikara know Riko was a Level-1 Water Shiki? Riko never used any attacks.

3. Miya said they gave girl's names to weak boys, which leads me to think that Hisoka was born early. I said earlier that I like November 14th for his brithday, as opposed to October 20th, so perhaps that was his due date? It would make him 3 weeks early, enough to make him pretty weak at birth.

Plot Things:

1. "Kurosaki went missing at the very moment that the damage to the force field occurred." Well, isn't that just convenient?

2. The fights between Ren-Yatonokami and Seiryuu-Kurikara both lasted 8 days. Coincidence? Bad editing? Or something _more_…?

3. I'm glad I wrote chapter 10 before I read this volume. Otherwise, I might be sympathetic to Nagare, what with, you know, being mind-raped by Yatonokami. But I've read translations for up to Volume 13 and it turns out that Nagare _still_ doesn't care that he psychologically scarred his son, so…no sympathy from me.

Characters:

1. Kurikara is just too cute. He looks like someone out of Pokemon, actually. The evil-villain-who's-really-a-good-guy-but-no-one-knows angle is failing miserably with the audience, though. But _dude_, he's Emperor Reversed. Abuse of power much?

2. Riko…(Sniffles) Riko…(Tears) And…the look on Hisoka's face…when he picks up the cowboy hat…(Cries with wild abandon and has to be consoled)

3. "I'd rather be pursued by a hot chick." Sure, Kotaro. Which is why you and Kojiro are the essence of twincest, right? You're still forever gay to me. Speaking of him, Baby Kotaro was the most adorable thing. Ever. Baby Hisoka was…well, not. That's a really bad picture of a photo of him.

4. Seiryuu and Tatsumi just keep getting sexier. Seiryuu _must_ wear his hair down more often, and Tatsumi has that vulnerable/mysterious quality.

5. Tatsumi and Watari seriously _look_ like an old married couple in this one, even if they don't act like it. And _what_ is Watari wearing?

6. Rui and Kasane are scary. They look like twin dolls that Muraki might have, that would be covered in dust and bleed when you pick them up.

7. You know, with everything that's happened to Hisoka—being abused and neglected by his parents, being raped (did you _see_ the picture of him in that bloody kimono?) and murdered by Muraki, nearly losing Tsuzuki (the only person he truly loves and trusts), watching Riko die to protect him, and being what _would_ have been mortally wounded by Kurikara—it seriously wouldn't surprise me if the next suicide attempt is his.

Couples

1. I'm finding myself shipping Tatsumi/Miya. I think she has a total crush on him. But since Tatsumi/Watari is already my official pairing here…maybe Miya/Rikugo?

2. "Have you ever felt the warmth of his living body, Seiryuu?" Um…dude…wow. Kurikara, are you a little jealous?

3. The Tsuzuki/Hisoka highlight: "What about Hisoka? Where's Hisoka?" and "Hang on Hisoka, I'm coming!" are the _only_ mentions they get in this book. GRR!

Insightful Commentary

1. Kurikara and Hisoka are the same person. Seriously. First off, they are both very small and feminine in appearance. They both hate being underestimated because of their looks. Kurikara is cold to Hisoka, just like Hisoka was to Tsuzuki in the beginning. He even causes Hisoka skin damage, like when Hisoka ripped up Tsuzuki's hand. But what really got me is how Kurikara spazzes out when he kills Riko: "I wasn't exiled here to do things like this!" It just hit me that it looked a lot like when Hisoka shot Tsubaki: "I wonder if I'll become…Muraki. _Infected_ with him." They all act like Kurikara and Hisoka are so wrong for each other, but they're basically the same character in different roles.

**Side Note #4:** Okay, it's official. There _will_ be a sequel to Second Death.

* * *

This Year's Love

* * *

'_Cause who's to worry_

_If our hearts get torn_

_When that hurt is thrown?_

_Don't you notice life goes on?_

_Won't you kiss me on that midnight street_

_Sweep me off my feet_

_Singing, "Ain't this life so sweet"?_

_This year's love had better last_

- "This Year's Love", David Gray

* * *

"Kannuki, come on…aw, Kannuki, you're not supposed to be crying!"

Wakaba sniffled and wiped her eyes with her thumbs. "I can't help it," she literally blubbered. "That was…that was…that was so beautiful…"

"Still, Kannuki," Terazuma said, attempting reason. "You're not supposed to be all…_girly_ and stuff when you're the miko. You're supposed to be serious."

"I can be as _girly_ as I want," Wakaba said, slightly huffishly. "In case you haven't noticed, Hajime, the ceremony is over."

"I know, I _know_," Terazuma said defensively. He felt terribly stupid and awkward, talking to her from outside a folded screen, behind which she was changing out of her chihaya and habikama into more western wedding-guest attire. "But it's still lame to get all weepy and pathetic when you're a…a…spiritual person."

"You're such a _boy_, Hajime," Wakaba said degradingly.

"Well, _yeah_, I'm a boy," Terazuma said, slightly confused. "I've got the par…ts…"

"Didn't need to think about that, Hajime," Wakaba said, but her voice was teasing. "I'll have you know that I like a man who can be emotional at times. Not a wishy-washy hangdog of a man, of course, but one who's not afraid to show he's got feelings."

"Good luck finding _hi_…"

Terazuma trailed off as Wakaba stepped out from around the folding screen, brushing out her skirt. Terazuma briefly remembered he had seen pictures of women in ballrooms at some point during his life, and his overly masculine brain somehow managed to make the connection. Her dress was dark blue in a way that matched her orange hair, the skirts folded and ruffled so many times to look like there was more material than there actually was.

But what truly caught his eyes was her hair; pulled high off her neck. At the base of her ponytail, tied up like a shoe with oversized laces, was a red-and-white striped ribbon.

Terazuma had yet another surge of nicotine craving and shoved a cigarette in his mouth, but his hands couldn't find the lighter and they gave up trying after two seconds. His teeth ground into the paper wrapping and the insides spilled out. He spluttered and wiped his tongue with his hand, turning quickly away from Wakaba as she giggled.

He jumped at a hand on his arm and whipped around. Long white gloves covered Wakaba's hands and halfway up her forearm.

"Now, Hajime, I am officially no longer a miko, just a guest with a date. A very handsome date, I might add," she said, smiling coquettishly. "Well?" She patted her gown. "Do you like my dress?"

"It's a very, very, nice dress."

Wakaba laughed. "Like I said, such a boy." She placed her hand lightly on his arm. "Now, I may not be miko anymore, but it's still my duty to introduce them to the reception. So hurry up, we only have a few minutes."

"Uh-huh," Terazuma said dumbly, staring at her hair tie as her hand guided him away.

* * *

Kazusa giggled to herself quietly as she pulled out her violin from the case and began tuning it. Throughout the entire ceremony, save when she felt emotional enough to cry, she had just wanted to laugh. Laugh because the two her 8-year-old self had called "old men" had just gotten married. Laugh because she had heard some creepy guy consisting of two gloves and half a mask bawling in the background. Laugh because Hijiri, just before Tsuzuki and Hisoka's appearance, had been making fun of said eccentric man by pulling faces bordering on hysterical.

"I believe we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Wong Maria."

Kazusa stopped laughing and looked up. A purple-haired young woman in a rose-patterned cheong-sam was smiling down at her, adjusting her pashmina.

"You were at those two impromptu parties," Kazusa thought aloud. "I mean…I'm Otonashi Kazusa." She flushed, embarrassed, and took the proffered hand. Maria seemed to emanate elegance. Kazusa briefly wondered if one was able to "catch" sophistication like one caught a cold.

"You're going to play the accompaniment, I presume?" Maria asked, glancing at Kazusa's violin.

"Yes, with Hi-_cha_… with Hijiri." Kazusa blushed.

Maria smiled again but didn't press the subject. "Well, I'm going to be singing. I'll do justice to what I'm sure will be your fine playing."

"I'll do justice to what I'm sure will be your fine singing," Kazusa imitated.

"Thank you." Maria smiled and allowed a small silence. "So, how do you know Tsuzuki and Hisoka?"

"I was one of their earliest cases," Kazusa said. "With Hi-_ch_…Hijiri."

"Oh…I think I've heard this story from Saya and Yuma," Maria said. "If you don't mind my asking, how are you…?"

""Still alive"?" Kazusa filled in. "It's nuts, what happened. I was supposed to have been "killed" when I was 8 years old, but my "death" occurred _in _Meifu. Meifu is the yang half of the yin-yang universe. That means that anyone from the yin half who dies here doesn't actually die. Yay for double negatives."

"You are _quite _lucky," Maria stated. "As for myself, I'd like to think I got the two of them together. I was their _first_ case. Of course, I was too broken up at the time to realize that I was unwittingly playing matchmaker, but there was something the slightest bit adorable about them."

"Are you a Shinigami?" Kazusa asked.

"Yes. I was…well, I…I had died, and my stepmother brought me back to life, with some…outside help. Tsuzuki broke me out of the spell I was under and let me pass into…you call it "Meifu" in Japan, right?"

"Yes."

"I was grateful…very grateful," Maria continued, her eyes shining with admiration and thankfulness. "I look up to Tsuzuki greatly. I wanted to become what he is—someone who can help people pass into the afterlife peacefully. So I became a Shinigami in Hong Kong."

"I know the feeling," Kazusa said eagerly. "My two favorite people in the world are master violinists, so I _had_ to take it up."

"Your two favorite people in the world…I'm assuming one of them is this Hijiri you keep mentioning?"

Kazusa blushed. "Yes."

"There's something I've been noticing. You stutter every time you say his name. A crush, perhaps?"

Kazusa blushed even deeper.

"Don't be nervous. I think that boy _there_," Maria pointed towards an even further away figure that went by the appellation of Kijin, "is rather soft on the eyes, if you catch my drift. We might as well act on it while we're here. This is a wedding, it's appropriate for people to pair up…" Her voice trailed on the last word, replacing a conclusion with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Kazusa asked.

"Nothing, it's just my roommate," Maria said. "She's fighting with her girlfriend. It's so ridiculous what they're fighting about, but it's tearing them up. The worst part is I _know_ that my roommate wants to get back together with her; it's just her being foolish and proud. I'm going to give you a good piece of advice, Kazusa. It's not good to hide your feelings. I know the effects of that from experience and they are not fun."

Maria stared at her hands, her mind lost in memories of her stepmother. If she had only defied her earlier, if she had only…maybe she wouldn't have killed herself…maybe those other people wouldn't have died…

"Okay, enough!" Maria clapped her hands. "This is a wedding, not a counseling session."

"That's for sure."

But it wasn't Kazusa who spoke. Both girls looked up to see Hijiri standing over them, clutching his violin. He smiled down on the girls; Maria offered a gracious smile back and Kazusa, a nervous grin.

"Minase Hijiri," he introduced himself, holding out his hand to Maria.

"Wong Maria," she returned, shaking his hand. "And I think you already know Kazusa?"

"Very well," Hijiri said, directing his beaming face at her.

Kazusa blushed as Hijiri turned his face away to talk with someone else, and she suddenly felt a jab from an elbow in her side.

"How old are you?" Maria whispered in her ear.

"12. He's 20."

"You're legal next year, right?" Kazusa nodded. "Ask him to dance. I'm singing _a cappela_ a few times."

"But…!"

"Ask him!"

"Ask me what?" Hijiri queried, turning his attention back to the two girls in time to hear Maria's command.

"Nothing," Kazusa said.

"It's not nothing," Maria informed Hijiri. "Minase-_kun_, Kazusa would like to dance with you when I sing _a cappela_."

"She…she would?" Hijiri blinked, taken aback.

"Y-yeah," Kazusa said, her face a good imitation of a tomato.

"Well…well, sure," Hijiri stammered, his face tinting to a shade a fraction of Kazusa's.

"There, that's settled," Maria said, brushing off the length of her cheong-sam as she stood. "And just in time, too. Kannuki-_san_ is entering with Terazuma-_san_; I think Tsuzuki and Hisoka will be appearing soon."

Kazusa grinned in spite of her flush and maneuvered her violin. Hijiri reached out a hand to her. She stared at it for a second, and then hesitantly let her palm fall on his and allowed him to help her to her feet.

"Attention all! Hey, that means _you_ two over there, too!" Wakaba yelled, and Suzaku and Touda were snapped out of a heated, but rather tame by comparison to previous, altercation. "I think we're all quite ready to get this party started, right? So introducing the men of the hour…Tsuzuki and Hisoka!"

Kazusa and Hijiri raised their violins and sandwiched them in between their shoulders and their chins. Maria stepped up in front of them, sending a wink back at the pair as the first strings were played.

* * *

"It's…sort of ethereal, isn't it?"

"Remember that you have to dumb yourself down around me, Hisoka," Tsuzuki reminded him.

"You really should pick up a dictionary every once in a while," Hisoka chided, but he didn't have it in him to be too sarcastic. Not while Tsuzuki was holding onto him, one arm around his back and the other holding his hand up in a classic waltz pose; not while he was holding Tsuzuki back. "I mean "odd", in a fantastical way."

Tsuzuki smiled. "I understand perfectly. I mean, you and I are _married_. It's kinda like a dream. And this floaty music isn't working against that feeling."

""Floaty music"?" Hisoka repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

"Doesn't it feel like you could just sail over the world listening to this song?" Tsuzuki put forth, turning both of them slowly to the unhurried rhythm of the song.

"I guess," Hisoka admitted. There was something about the slow, deliberate melody that was weighing comfortably on his eyes, filling him with the sensation of pleasant tiredness granted to one who has worked unbelievably hard and earned the comfort of rest. He lightly shut his eyelids and dropped his forehead against Tsuzuki's shoulder, letting his feet move instinctually in time with Tsuzuki's.

"Where did you learn to dance?" Tsuzuki asked softly.

"From Tsubaki-_hime_," Hisoka answered quietly. "And…Miya used to make me dance with her…when we were really little."

Tsuzuki's hand tightened around Hisoka's. The music swelled; new energy was vitalizing both the song and Hisoka. As Maria switched her lingual intonation from Gaelic to Japanese Hisoka's head rose, and for a very long moment all he could see was dark purple staring back into bright green.

_I search for the sign_

_That sets my soul free_

_My heart must be pure_

_So that I can find peace_

_My grief cannot last_

_Mylove will be fulfilled_

_I pray a sign will help to_

_Set me free_

_I search for the sign _

_That sets my soul free_

_My heart must be pure _

_So that I can can find peace_

_Th__e wind is your voice_

_The rain is your tears_

_Your burning heart and spirit_

_Sets me free_

As if prompted by gravity Tsuzuki's face moved closer to Hisoka's. Hisoka accepted the uncorrupted advanced by returning the soft kiss. Their eyes shut against the rest of the world, but the last three syllables of the song flowed unhindered into their ears.

_Set me free…_

The sound of clapping broke them out of their reverie, not immediately, but in time to turn to the audience and bow gracefully, which only made the cheering grow louder and louder.

"What's that word again?" Tsuzuki asked in a whisper.

""Ethereal"," Hisoka whispered back. "Indefinable, delicate, exquisite, heavenly, unearthly, spiritual."

"You memorized the definition, didn't you?"

"That would be so like him."

Hisoka blinked. It took a handful of seconds for his brain to register that the scenery had changed. He was sitting at a table; Tsuzuki was, too; the applause had subsided, and a redheaded girl was smiling at him, shy and familiar simultaneously.

"Miya…?"

"Tsuzuki-_san_ told me that you were getting married," Miya explained. "I wanted…badly…to be here, to see it. He came and got me this morning."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Tsuzuki apologized. "I didn't know how you'd react…"

Hisoka shook his head, trying to organize the thoughts that now seemed scattered on the floor of his brain. His eyes bounced back and forth between Tsuzuki and Miya. Slowly he raised his hand, and then quickly he thumped the back of Tsuzuki's head.

"Idiot. You could've told me. I need all the happy memories I can get."

Miya laughed as Tsuzuki made a whining noise in his throat and then pulled Hisoka against him, stating childlike apologies. The laughter faded away in her throat and was replaced by a smile tinged by the double-edged sword of nostalgia as this same scene with different actors played over and over in her mind.

The memories…

"Even if it's not me getting married to you," Miya said, smiling at the wish she had once so fervently hoped would come true, "I'm glad to see you like this. Seeing you dancing like that…it was…"

The memories were…

"Ethereal," she finished softly. "Definitely."

She leaned over to kiss Hisoka's cheek, and then she awarded another peck to Tsuzuki's face. With a small smile and a wink that effectively held back the moisture she felt forming and saw clouding up her pupils, she stepped away, leaving the dreamlike atmosphere that had surrounded the two.

* * *

"I invite you all to a time of mysticism and magic, born in Renaissance Italy," Tsubaki said. Her hand opened out to the congregation, revealing her pack of blue-backed Tarot cards. "For centuries, people have used Tarot to clarify their lives. By connecting their souls to the spirits within the cards, they reveal the innermost secrets of their very essence. There are thousands of ways to use Tarot. However, we're going to do a very simple trick. It's called Shuffle and Pick. You shuffle…" Tsubaki shuffled and bridged the cards "…and then you pick." She pulled a card off the top pile of the deck. "The Empress," she announced, presenting a card featuring a crowned, pregnant woman sitting on a throne, surrounded by copious fruits of agriculture. "In it's upright position, it signifies creation, love, patience, and/or generosity."

She smiled and turned toward where Tsuzuki and Hisoka were sitting.

"Of course, the newlyweds are going to be the first to try this out," Tsubaki said informatively. She set the pack in front of Tsuzuki. "What I want you to do is shuffle the cards, any way you want to, while thinking of yourself. Then get them in one stack, and draw the top card."

"Sounds like fun." Tsuzuki pulled the cards closer to him and began shuffling them—or rather, messily rearranging them to the beat of some unknown tune that played perpetually in his head. It took him several seconds to get them straightened out into one neat pile, and holding up the top card for all to see was something of a triumph for him.

"Death," Tsubaki announced, and the congregation's collective face fell. "Hisoka should recognize this card. Death is the most misunderstood card in the deck. It does not imply evil or fear. Rarely, it _can_ mean actual death, but the best definition of this card is "a transition", from low to high. Granted, the transition will probably be painful, but it takes one to a higher plane of existence." She turned back to Tsuzuki. "Okay, Hisoka, now you do the exact same thing."

Tsuzuki handed the cards to Hisoka, and they were shuffled in a far more orderly manner.

"The Hermit," Tsubaki said. "This one represents introspection. It can also mean seclusion. But mostly it represents peace, or the desperate need for it." She looked back at Hisoka. "Now I want you to shuffle again, but this time think of your marriage."

The slightest hint of a blush graced Hisoka's face and he shuffled and drew a card.

"The Lovers," Tsubaki announced.

The blush deepened, as a joint squeal of "Ooh-_ooh_-ooh" came from several female guests.

"Believe it or not, this card has nothing to do with anything physical, you naughty-minded girls," Tsubaki teased. "This card represents finding a soul mate, that one thing or person that completes you. It also signifies growth and maturity, and the realization that things are out of your control. It's an _excellent_ commitment card."

Her eye caught hold of a young woman in the audience who was staring at her with an odd expression on her face. Tsubaki quickly turned to take the cards from Hisoka and hand them to Tsuzuki. "Now you do the same thing."

Tsuzuki shuffled and produced a fourth card.

"Judgment," Tsubaki pronounced. "This one means it's time to forget the past, forgive yourself _for_ that past, and move on."

"Tsubaki-_hime_, come here," Hisoka said, gesturing for her to lean over.

"What is it?"

"What did you put in these cards?"

Tsubaki laughed and straightened up. "I think it's the spiritual atmosphere, Hisoka," she explained. "Besides, Tarot doesn't so much put ideas in your head as it does amplify what's already there."

"Then we must be sending off pretty strong brainwaves," Tsuzuki said, tapping the small stack of cards.

"If you're capable of sending off any at all," Hisoka muttered.

"Hiso_ka_!" Tsuzuki whined, his outer face pouting; his inner face grinning.

"You _walked_ into that one," Hisoka returned, his inner countenance matching Tsuzuki's; his outer matching his inner.

"Yeah, and _you_ walked into this." Tsuzuki reached out, pulled Hisoka half-off his chair, and planted his mouth on Hisoka's ear.

"Did you just _lick_ my _ear_?"

"Oh, _baby_!" a grinning Yuma called from her table, fanning herself.

Tsubaki buried her mouth in her hands to stifle giggles. Hisoka's face was enough to send anyone to an early grave. 'And just when I thought "Lovers" had nothing to do with anything physical…'

"Come on, I'm sorry," Tsuzuki apologized with a pout that could put a begging puppy to shame.

"You are dead to me, Tsuzuki."

"Well, we _are_ already dead."

"Shut up."

Tsuzuki laughed and pulled Hisoka almost of his chair again, this time into a normal embrace. He planted an ordinary kiss on Hisoka's head, and then on his temple. "Come on. We need to happy up a little. This engagement has been too sad. Even our _vows_ were sad. We should have a fun _wedding_, at least."

"Fine," Hisoka acquiesced, biting back a smile. "But if you smash that cake in my face I am going to maim you, clear?"

"Understood," Tsuzuki said brightly, letting Hisoka sit up properly. He was rewarded with a light slap on the arm, and an attempted frown that quickly was recognized as a begrudging smile.

* * *

"Y'know, Tsuzuki is dancing with the guests now," Touda informed Suzaku, pointing towards the open floor to where Tsuzuki had dragged his first non-marital partner.

"And?" Suzaku asked, glaring at him.

"Well, he's already got a partner, and the floor's open to everyone else, so I'd like to ask you something."

"What are you—"

Suzaku lurched forward and was unwillingly spun in a circle before having the sensation of being bent slightly backwards. Touda's arm was supporting her balance by wrapping around her back; his other hand had cupped hers and raised it to eye-level.

"Wanna dance?"

"With _you_?" Suzaku squawked, her eyes wide and horrified.

"No, I'm busy engaging you in lively conversation and sweeping your off your feet so you can have a mad, passionate dance with Daion."

Suzaku snapped her body out of Touda's grip and stomped backward. "If you touch me again, I'll break your fingers."

Touda let out a very long, exasperated sigh that made the furious flush in Suzaku's face darken to a frightening shade of dark pink.

"What?" she demanded.

Touda pulled out a chair and plopped down.

"_What?_"

"Kyoto was 2 years ago, Suzaku."

"I'm well aware of when Kyoto happened," Suzaku snapped.

"Obviously, because you still haven't let it go."

"Let it _go_?" Suzaku nearly shrieked. "How am I supposed to let go of you nearly killing _Tsuzuki_? How am I supposed to—"

Suzaku was cut off as Touda flew out of his seat and clapped his hand over her mouth. She just barely resisted an intense urge to sink her teeth into his palm.

"Mind keeping it down?" Touda hissed. "Why don't we try to remember all the _people_…at the _wedding_?"

Suzaku shoved his hand away and made to retort, but before words could escape her mouth Touda had grabbed her wrist and yanked her from her table and through one of Tenkuu's many doors.

"_Where_ are you taking me?" Suzaku hissed.

"Just follow me," Touda snapped, not letting go of her arm. Any attempts to free herself from him ended in failure; small roars of frustration were escaping her mouth and, she hoped, irritatingly barraging Touda's ears.

He finally stopped short in front of a staircase leading downward into the depths of Tenkuu. Staring down the steps, Suzaku could only see about twenty feet down the angle of depression. Cold air was traveling upwards and wafting past her face in unending, invariable, almost maddening small blasts.

"What's this?" she demanded.

"_This_ is where I used to live before Tsuzuki made me his Shiki," Touda spat. "For defying the Emperor, I earned myself a life sentence in there. Imagine if you will, Suzaku, living in total darkness. You can't even see your d-mn hand in front of your face. Imagine sitting in a place that would have a temperature of Absolute Zero if you weren't there creating friction. Imagine spending _centuries_ in there. You'd go mad, wouldn't you? You'd live in a constant state of despair, wouldn't you? You'd want to die, to _kill yourself_, just to escape, wouldn't you?"

"I…" Suzaku stammered, unsure, unprepared.

"The reason I set fire to that place is because Tsuzuki _knew_. He _knew_ what it was like to live like that, because he lived it every d-mn day. He freed _me_, how could I not free _him_? Yes, I'm _d-mn_ happy that he's still alive, but if Hisoka hadn't been there I would have followed through and I would be _proud_ that I helped my master."

"I _love_ Tsuzuki," Suzaku said, regaining her wits. "And I want to help him by keeping him alive. It's _always_ better to be alive and I am _never_ going to think what you did was a good idea."

"H-ll, I _understand_, Suzaku. And if I'd had more time to think in that situation I might've done what you would've done. But I tried to kill him because the bottom line is that _I_ love Tsuzuki, too. If nothing else we can agree on _that_."

"Well…well, good," Suzaku said, her mind once again deserting her. She wasn't accustomed to a Touda that talked like this. The Touda she knew would…what would the Touda she knew do? "Just don't think this'll happen again, us agreeing on stuff, okay?" she snapped, slipping comfortably back into intimidation tactics.

"Don't you get it? That's why I _like_ you, Suzaku."

"That's why you…what?" Suzaku's eyes were open, unblinking, shocked.

"You think I'd like a woman who agreed with everything I ever did?" Touda asked, now cocking a smirk. "Nope, no lifeless little dolls for me, thanks. I like some fire in my life, and you've got it, both figuratively _and_ literally."

Suzaku's mouth fell agape. Of all the times for the rare occasion of her speechlessness to occur, it had to be now.

"So I pose this query again: Wanna dance?" His smirk had grown and he plucked her hand up. "Ah, still wearing the flower, I see."

"Tenko would be upset if I took it off," Suzaku said defensively.

"Convenient," Touda said, smiling complacently, before kissing the back of her hand.

"Who said you could do that?" Suzaku demanded.

"I did," Touda replied smugly, before pulling her closer to him in a tango pose. "You can hum, right?"

"Wha…why?"

"Because if I go back to the reception hall, you'll get away from me, and then I can't dance with you."

"You are _so_ full of it!"

"If "it" is a burning desire to seduce you into a passionate love affair with me, then yes, you're quite correct."

And with that, he fixed his lips on hers. Briefly he wondered if it was shock or agreement when it took her longer than expected to pull away, slap him across the face, and storm off.

* * *

"How've you been?"

"What kind of question is that?" Tatsumi replied questioningly. Maria had suggested that Tsuzuki and Hisoka take their closest friends onto the dance floor. On the other end of the room from Tsuzuki and Tatsumi, Hisoka and Tsubaki danced, talking quietly.

"You know what I mean, Tatsumi."

"You shouldn't try the all-knowing angle, Tsuzuki," Tatsumi teased evasively as they turned.

"Tatsu_mi_…"

"Tsuzuki, there's no point in bringing this up," Tatsumi stated firmly. "Please, believe me when I say that I am _happy_ for you. What hurt me most when we were still partners was that I could never help you when you were upset. For you to have someone who _can_ help you makes me happy."

Tsuzuki smiled and tapped Tatsumi's shoulder with his forehead, affectionately.

"Good," he said, with a shaky laugh in his voice. "I was worried, that you might not…be ready for this, and…well, it's a relief."

"Glad to hear it."

They turned again, this time in silence.

"I heard from Watari that you and him have a date tonight."

""You and he", Tsuzuki. And unlike your grammar, that's not incorrect."

Tsuzuki laughed. "I thought he was pulling my leg. Do you know how _weird_ it is to think of you two going on a date?"

"I'm actually acutely aware of the fact, Tsuzuki," Tatsumi said stiffly.

"Sorry," Tsuzuki apologized sheepishly.

"Don't worry."

"Oh, but there's something you should know," Tsuzuki said suddenly, and Tatsumi blinked at the unexpected urgency in Tsuzuki's eyes. "When you're out with him, you shouldn't…don't ask him about any other people he's dated, okay?"

"Why is this such an issue?" Tatsumi asked, remembering his earlier squabble with Watari. "I almost got into an argument with him about it earlier."

Tsuzuki shook his head. "I can't answer that, Tatsumi. But you should know that I only know because he and I were out drinking once and he told me when he was completely wasted. He then proceeded to throw up all over me. It really, _really_ upsets him. So don't ask him about it. He might tell you, if you already know that there's an issue, but let him bring it up, okay?"

"All right," Tatsumi said slowly, his face telltale of his baffled state of mind.

"Good," Tsuzuki said, smiling again. He and Tatsumi pulled apart as the music ended, and they joined in the general applause. Giving each other thankful and friendly bows, they abandoned their small galaxy: Tatsumi for a seat, Tsuzuki for his husband.

"Looks like Tatsumi's having some romance troubles," Tsuzuki half-whispered to Hisoka.

"Same with Tsubaki," Hisoka returned. "She's under the impression that this wouldn't have happened if she'd just stuck with me."

"I hope she's joking."

"Well, she's telling the truth. Her problems with Eileen wouldn't be happening if she _had_ stuck with me. But she's not serious about us ever being an item."

"Good," Tsuzuki said triumphantly, nuzzling his face into Hisoka's neck.

"If you're jealous and you know it…"

"Your name is Tsuzuki," the violet-eyed man filled in for him, grinning.

* * *

It was so typical of this particular group that the last dance be shared by the most unusual couples. Hisoka had been unsure of whether to be amused or horrified when Seiryuu and Kouchin took the floor, Maria gave up singing for a non-lyrical dance with Kijin, and Rikugo asked Miya to partner with him. He _definitely_ knew his feelings about being dragged into some bizarre three-way dance with Yuma and Saya, which is why he asked, or rather demanded, that Tsuzuki get to him before they did. The last song was much more lively than the previous ones; the fast pace had a way of wiping his mind of everything but unexpected enjoyment of the dance, both the animated and vivacious playing of twin violins, and the feeling of being one in a crowd as well as being alone with his partner.

But coming down from the high, a sudden pang of nausea hit his stomach and realization slammed into his brain simultaneously.

Tonight, he would…

He looked at Tsuzuki, who did not come to the sudden enlightenment until he fully comprehended what Hisoka's face was practically screaming. Uncertainly Tsuzuki took his hand and squeezed it, before leading him away from the jubilant crowd.

"What are we doing?" Hisoka asked. "We didn't really plan this…"

"_I_ did," Tsuzuki said. "Hisoka, can you just follow along with me on this? We're gonna go home first to get changed, and then there's someplace I really need to go tonight with you. Is that okay?"

Hisoka swallowed and nodded mutely.

"Good." Tsuzuki smiled and leaned over to kiss Hisoka. He tried to stomach his worry when Hisoka felt unresponsive; he turned back toward the congregation.

"Everyone?" Tsuzuki called, clapping his hands to catch their attention. The hubbub settled down; more as a result of Seiryuu's explosive cry of "SILENCE!" then any of Tsuzuki's attempts.

"We're winding down, guys," Tsuzuki called, making a sympathetic look to the overwhelming disappointed sounding of "_aww…_". "Well, it's getting late, you know," he said. "Anyways. Really, we want to thank you all for being here. It means a lot to us." He was drowned out by roaring applause. "Okay, okay, so we're going to say good-bye now. You guys can stay here for as long as Wakaba is here—"

"Which will be for awhile!" Wakaba interjected.

"—but right now we're going to takeour leave. So, let's say good-night."

There was a mad crush of people towards the two and Hisoka was swept up in trying to fend many guests off of him. It seemed something of a prison break when he finally managed to disentangle himself from the overzealous guests and escape with Tsuzuki, who seemed to find the whole affair terribly amusing.

The Tengu ripped open a hole for Tsuzuki and Hisoka, calling it a wedding favor. Smiling uneasily, Tsuzuki took his partner's hand and stepped into the vortex that would bring them, in solitude, to Meifu.

* * *

Hmm…mixed feelings about this chapter. I'm glad to get Suzaku/Touda in here because they're going to be prominent in the sequel (whose working title is currently Southwest of Eden), but it's not exactly what I wanted. I thought of getting rid of the Kazusa-Maria talk, but I liked it too much. I debated greatly with having Miya appear (she _is_ scheduled to show up in the last chapter as well as in the sequel, so it's not like there's a lack of her), but I just wanted _really_ badly to throw Rikugo/Miya in here, just for kicks. I agonized over what song to use, but "Sigma" was the ultimate choice because it's just too perfect for them, and plus I can legally use it since it's a translation and not the actual song. I feel like I'm banging everyone over the heading with the Watari Foreshadowing stick, though I don't think anyone will guess what's coming. I put off more Wakaba/Terazuma and Tsubaki/Eileen for future chapters, which sucks. And, this chapter was so LONG! I'm really surprised. So, I have a love-hate relationship with this chapter.

Anywha. Next chapter is pure Tsuzuki/Hisoka. It earns the T/PG-13 rating but _don't_ get any naughty ideas; I told you I don't write lemons and I stick to my guns.


	14. Somewhere I Have Never Traveled

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yami no Matsuei

**Shout-outs:**

laustic: Hi! Welcome to my review board and thank you for your kind words. I read your "Satin Angel" story and found it incredibly sweet. Keep it up!

elirian: Terazuma is so easy to tease because he's so masculine, which automatically casts him in the "clueless guy" role. Yep, I loved the Kazusa/Hijiri and am very pleased with how they turned out; I thought I owed them a moment since they're tertiary characters and don't get much spotlight. Touda/Suzaku is unpopular—I've only read _one_ fanfiction about them on this site—but I always root for the underdog, and they're so Darcy/Elizabeth that I can't pass them up. And Tsuzuki/Hisoka just lends itself to loveliness.

jennamarie: Thank you very much. I'm so glad people enjoy Terazuma/Wakaba. About Kurikara and Riko—I know he never had a chance, but that thing about Water versus Fire bugs me a little. Water should defeat Fire.

Young Hisoka…(Tears up) I'm so glad he's dead actually, at least he's away from Yatonokami and his freaky family. I swear, the only attractive ones are him and his father. Speaking of attractive…Seiryuu and Tatsumi, OMG. I'm actually just "okay" with the yutaka; what makes Tatsumi eye-catching is how his face is drawn.

The villagers probably _should_ have Yatonokami dropped on their heads, if only to wake them up a little to the suffering of that family. Oh, and in the anime, Maria's hair is dark purple. (I'm pretty sure…I loaned Disc 1 to somebody and it's been almost three months since I've seen it…)

(Glomps the Count)

Kiko812: I'm sorry? I don't understand what you wrote, exactly. Did you dislike the chapter? Did you have to leave? (Sweatdrops)

AnimeAngelRin: Second Death is scheduled for 16 chapters. Incidentally, Southwest of Eden is scheduled for 9 chapters. Oh, and Brownie Points to whoever can name the book I'm referencing. It actually becomes a plot point in Southwest, and I want to see who is well-read. It's an _excellent_ book.

Eternity's Heir: Thank you! (Blush)

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: (Pets both George and AEK) I'm going to see this story and the sequel through to the end, I swear it. In fact, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I can't wait to finish Second Death so I can start Southwest of Eden.

You're one of those crazy yaoi fangirls, aren't you? Hee, that Suzaku/Touda scene was actually difficult to piece together smoothly because I took it in two different directions. But I'm glad they're there; they're going to be prominent in the sequel, as will Tatsumi/Watari (and, yes, Tsubaki/Eileen, though not as much), and of course, Tsuzuki/Hisoka.

Was there a point to Kazusa-Maria talking? Pro'lly not. Still, I enjoyed writing it and didn't really want to nix it. I'm the kind of writer who can't stand to leave any character—main, secondary, or tertiary—with a hanging plot point. It was just some closure for the small Hijiri/Kazusa in chapter 5. I was kinda experimenting with this story, seeing who I would focus on, and since I've shifted the view to Tsuzuki/Hisoka, Touda/Suzaku, Tsubaki/Eileen, etc, I wanted to give them their due so I could cut them off. Besides, the tale served well as a segue into Tsuzuki/Hisoka, because making them show up just after Terazuma/Wakaba was too jarring for me.

Speaking of Terazuma/Wakaba, yes, they are too cute. I originally planned that the gloves would be what prevented Terazuma from transforming, _however_, there is a new plot point I thought up afterwards that I'm going to implement in the last chapter.

I wanted Miya there for a couple reasons. One is that, for some reason, I'm feeling the Miya-love. I don't know why, but I think she rocks. Also, she is going to be in the sequel, so I wanted to expound on her friendship with Hisoka (which will serve as a contrast to his relationship with his parents, who _also_ are going to be in the sequel). And thirdly, I was feeling sort of random and giggly, so I wanted to include the teeny-tiny Miya/Rikugo just for kicks. Yes, I'm arbitrary like that.

Watari has no "dark side" but he _does_ have an awful past that hurts him greatly. I really don't think anyone is going to guess what it is, though. But be patient, you'll find out what it is in chapter 15, and it'll be explored greatly in I think chapter 8 of the sequel.

Hope you enjoy this chapter! And yes, they are adorable.

Yuka Hasumi: (Evil grin). Thank you, thank you.

**Side Note #1:** An obi is the tie around a kimono or a yukata that keeps it from falling open.

* * *

_Somewhere I have never traveled, gladly beyond_

_Any experience, your eyes have their silence:_

_In your most frail gesture are things which enclose me_

_Your slightest look easily will unclose me_

_Though I have closed myself as fingers,_

_You open always petal by petal myself as spring opens_

_(Touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose_

………………

_Nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals_

_The power of your intense fragility_

………………

_(I do not know what it is about you that closes_

_And opens; only something in me understands_

_The voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)_

- E.E. Cummings, "Somewhere I Have Never Traveled"

* * *

Somewhere I Have Never Traveled

* * *

"Tsuzuki, this is…!"

"Yep," Tsuzuki answered. "The place you saw in my memory, in Kyoto two years ago."

"_This_ is the place you wanted to go to?" Hisoka asked incredulously. Tsuzuki had been uncharacteristically taciturn throughout the small amount of time it had taken to them return home, change into more traditional and comfortable Japanese garb, and then to teleport, Hisoka blindly, into Chijou. "Why _here_, of all places?"

"I need to do something here," Tsuzuki answered, sitting down on the ground and kicking off his sandals. Hisoka stared at him, and then transferred his gaze around the rocky clearing and the meters of meadow surrounding it. The rows upon rows of long grass seemed to be the same height as they had been in 1907; the ground had the same gravelly composition; the night sky was the same dark mix of black and blue like a bruise left unhealed. It looked untouched by time. It was frightening.

"Sit," Tsuzuki suggested more than commanded, and Hisoka pulled off his sandals, discarding them as he sat down. Tsuzuki pulled him into the crook of his arm, his hand on Hisoka's far shoulder, as a chilly wind blew through the field and seeped into Hisoka's clothes, sending a shiver up his spine.

"After I regained consciousness," Tsuzuki said, his voice eerily absent from his story, "I stayed here because I was too sore to move. It's no one's property—still isn't, I checked—so I could stay here as long as I wanted to. I just watched the horizon and waited for the sun to come up. And then, suddenly, all these fireflies came out…like there!"

Tsuzuki's hand brushed Hisoka's ear and his pointed, and a small flash of green light caught Hisoka's eye. Another followed in its wake, and another, and another.

"I was _fascinated_ that there were so many," Tsuzuki continued, regaining self-possession. "And they all seemed to fly in pairs. I thought they were little married bug couples." Tsuzuki laughed at the memory of his own childish imagination.

"I'm sensing a "but"…" Hisoka murmured.

"Of course," Tsuzuki replied. "There had to be _one_ loner firefly. I felt bad for him, being alone with all these other couples flying around him. I caught him and brought him home with me. But…fireflies don't live long…"

Tsuzuki's eyes dropped sadly, his memory flashing the sight of the frozen dead insect on his bedroom windowsill.

"Ruka told me that it was only natural, but I thought _I_ killed him. I was so _miserable_. It's pathetic, but that bug dying made me so upset that I didn't come back here for 10 years after that. It wasn't until…until Ruka died, that I came back. Something just carried me here. It was like…like they were chasing me and throwing rocks again, but this time…this time…" Tsuzuki trailed off. "Anyway…this is where Muraki Yukitaka found me. This is the last place outside the hospital I remember."

Hisoka looked down as he felt something small and ticklish brush his hand. A small firefly glowed its green light against his skin, and then spread its wings and took to the air. His eyes followed the flight path of the tiny creature as a pair of arms wrapped around his stomach and Tsuzuki buried his face in Hisoka's shoulder blade.

"Tsuzuki, why did you bring me here?" Hisoka asked, barely audible.

"I don't want anymore sad memories of this place, Hisoka," Tsuzuki whispered. "I want something in Chijou that I'm glad I remember."

Hisoka nodded, still staring at the sky, feeling his mouth, hands, and intestines tensely clam up. "I understand."

"I love you."

"I know."

Tsuzuki kissed the side of Hisoka's face and Hisoka closed his eyes, feeling rather than seeing Tsuzuki's hand move to untie his obi.

His soft gasp opened Hisoka's eyes and he tilted his head downward to see what had caused Tsuzuki's reaction. Peeking out from Hisoka's sleeves was a winding red river of ancient writing, glowing sinisterly against his ashen skin.

Hisoka pulled away out of Tsuzuki's arms. His hands moved around himself, holding his yukata together.

"You don't want this," he murmured, curling his head into his collarbone. "You can't. This isn't…this isn't…"

Hisoka felt himself being pulled backwards and his back softly landed against Tsuzuki's chest. Tsuzuki's arms wrapped around Hisoka's neck and he buried his face in his husband's shoulder.

"No, it's okay," Tsuzuki whispered, kissing Hisoka's cheek. "I thought that maybe…this might happen. We just have to…have to ignore it, okay? Are you okay?"

Hisoka nodded once more and looked away, trying to keep the blood-born curse marks out of his vision. Tsuzuki put his hands on Hisoka's shoulders and guided him around to make eye contact. For a moment, they sat in perfect stillness except for their hands: Tsuzuki's hands burying themselves in Hisoka's hair, Hisoka's hands trembling where they rested on his legs. And then, Tsuzuki hooked his fingers around the fabric of Hisoka's yukata and pulled it completely off Hisoka's bony shoulders.

"You're okay," Tsuzuki said, not a question, not a statement, almost a plea. "You're okay," he repeated.

He pressed his mouth against Hisoka's, passionate and mild, intense and undemanding. Gently he pressured Hisoka onto his back, commanding himself with every fleeting moment to forget how cold Hisoka's lips felt on his own. He sat on the ground completely and pulled Hisoka's hand onto the knot of his obi, silently asking him to do as he himself had done earlier.

The small tremors that had been in Hisoka's hands steadily began growing like a malignant tumor as his fingers tried to loosen what suddenly seemed like a meticulously intricate knot. After a few short seconds that felt like several long minutes the panic took over and he retracted his arm vertically against his chest, his knuckles covering what Tsuzuki could tell was his quivering lip.

"It's all right," Tsuzuki soothed.

"It's pathetic," Hisoka berated self-disparagingly, looking away shamefacedly and angry with himself. "For me to be so weak…"

"No." Tsuzuki's hand guided Hisoka's face back to look at him. "It's not pathetic. You can be as weak as you want with me."

"I don't want to be weak," Hisoka replied, strangled, insistence wrapped in fright and warmed over with uncertainty. "I promised you…I promised I'd be ready…I'd be okay…d-mn it, I don't say things like that lightly, I can't break this promise, I…!"

Tsuzuki's fingers brushed over Hisoka's mouth, shushing him kindly. "You won't. I know you. If you've made up your mind to do something, you'll follow through even if it kills you."

The tips of Tsuzuki's fingers traced elongated ovals up and down the side of Hisoka's face. With his free hand he untied his obi, and he stretched out on top of Hisoka, using the yukata as a makeshift blanket to guard against an unseasonable bitingly cold wind. Hisoka sucked in a sudden harsh breath; Tsuzuki felt his chest rise and fall at an undeniably unhealthy and rapid rate that only seemed to increase with each passing second. Hisoka's ashen skin seemed bloodless and devoid of warmth; his perennially starved limbs were shaking in just barely hidden animalistic terror.

Tsuzuki kissed him, tenderly and passionately, breathing into him. The hyperventilation slowed and turned into a soft sort of pant.

"There. _My_ version of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

Hisoka laughed, suddenly and bordering on obnoxiously, and the sound of it shocked both of them into wide-eyed surprise. Then, Tsuzuki positively giggled, and he smiled.

"See? I know words with more than two syllables."

"They don't do you any good," Hisoka replied, "if you don't make frequent _use_ of them."

Tsuzuki kissed him again, and again and again, each one softer and more ardent than the previous. They left Hisoka's mouth and island-hopped to his forehead, his cheek, his neck, his shoulder, as Tsuzuki's hands gently, unobtrusively ran the length of Hisoka's torso.

The shaking had turned into an invisible but tangible trembling; the eyes…screwed up tightly. Impulsively Tsuzuki's hands moved to press against Hisoka's eyelids and gently massage them open. Green, scared and—even if only unconsciously—expecting pain, peeked out from in between a row of surprisingly dark eyelashes.

'Tell me what you want' was the first thought that crossed Tsuzuki's mind, but the cells therein quickly crumpled up the thought and tossed it away. That wasn't the right question. He didn't think Hisoka would be able to answer, and even if he did, he knew that he himself wouldn't know how to comply. But something needed to be said; the silence was gaining in tonnage and it was making his stomach twist.

"Hisoka…tell me what you didn't want."

Tsuzuki couldn't tell if Hisoka's empathic barriers were slipping, but he _could_ tell that Hisoka understood what he meant.

"After I…after I got my memory back," Hisoka said through a shuddery breath, "I wanted never…to have someone hold me down again. I wanted never…for anyone to see me vulnerable again." His voice picked up speed but not strength. "I wanted never…for someone to stop me from screaming again, never to…to be the source of…of someone's pleasure again." He shut his eyes, his voice barely intelligible. "I wanted never to…hurt like that again…"

Tsuzuki's hand stroked Hisoka's temple, brushing his bangs of his face. "I have to…I have to stop your screaming. I won't expect anything of you, anything at all, but I _have_ to stop your screaming. And I…I can't promise it won't hurt…I barely know what I'm doing…" His voiced was tortured, as if the words were physically painful to force up his windpipe and out of his mouth.

Hisoka nodded, his throat dry. Tsuzuki's curled fingers brushed Hisoka's palm and then curled around Hisoka hand in a grip rivaling that of a newborn's.

"I'll…I won't hold you down. But…if you want…if you want…I won't let go of your hand tonight."

"Don't," Hisoka said, a little more desperately than he meant to.

Tsuzuki buried his face in Hisoka's neck, softly kissing where the throat curved outward into the shoulder. Hisoka lay silently, staring up at a sudden swarm of fireflies that neither of them had noticed forming.

Tsuzuki was right. They _did_ seem to fly in pairs.

* * *

Darkness. Coldness. Emptiness. He pulled his clothes tighter around him and huddled closer into the fetal-like ball he had curled himself up in to ward off the freezing temperatures and rested his chin on his knees, over-wide green eyes staring out at the blankness of unending black. Elusive laughter was floating into his ears from somewhere far away; laughter of happiness and derision.

A loud noise close to him, a splash of something liquid and hot. He flinched and covered his head with his hands, burying his face in his legs as he tried desperately to wipe the black and red blood wrapping around his fingers into his hair. Suddenly it felt like needles, first glacial and then scalding, were prying into his body with mind-numbing pain. With a child's anguished cry he clutched at his head as the stubborn blood trickled down his arms and into his sleeves, infesting his clothes and skin, already marked with ruby-red.

The feeling of a presence forced him to look up. A hand was descending out to him, and he gave off a strangled gasp and smack the hand away as he saw more liquid iron running from ghastly, black, infected-looking scars on the adjacent wrist.

"Hi," the hand's owner, a small brunette child with poor-looking, tattered western clothes and unusual eyes, said, and Hisoka covered his ears and looked away.

"I said "hi"," Tsuzuki repeated.

"Go away!" Hisoka screeched at him.

"No. I said "hi"."

"I hate you!"

For the first time the light in Tsuzuki's odd eyes suddenly dampened and Hisoka hid his face in his hands guiltily. The blood from Tsuzuki's wrist was dripping onto Hisoka's bare, small, cold feet.

"I said "hi"," Tsuzuki said again, this time barely hearable.

"H-hi," Hisoka replied, his voice small, peeking out from his hands. The radiance that had been diminished suddenly returned to Tsuzuki's odd purple eyes.

"You're all bloody."

"So're you," Hisoka returned.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No."

"Yes."

"…Yes."

Tsuzuki plopped down beside Hisoka and looped his arms around Hisoka's upper arm, resting his head against Hisoka's shoulder as one might rest his head on a pillow. "Why do you hate me?"

"I hate everyone."

"Why?"

"Because they hate me."

"_I _don't hate you. I like you."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"…Yes you do."

"Yes I do!" The innocent violet eyes crinkled up as a smile spread across his face, and Tsuzuki planted a sloppy kiss filled with childlike unconditional affection on Hisoka's cheek.

There was another loud noise, almost deafening in its proximity and intensity, and another splash of red fluid crashed over them both like a wave breaking on the shore. Both of them yelped in terror and threw themselves against each other, burying their faces in each other's shoulders and trying to spit the metallic taste of blood out of their mouths. The shared embrace tightened as their eyes squinted shut against the onslaught of horrific images parading before them.

"Hey, hey, I think it's okay now," Tsuzuki whispered after a few minutes of complete silence. Hisoka looked up, his grip on Tsuzuki remaining. The blood was slowly receding from them, traveling away like a tide going out.

"You stopped bleeding," Hisoka observed, his eyes lingering on the underside Tsuzuki's wrists. The deep gashes had stopped pouring forth the liquid of life and death, though they glistened still with black remains.

"Yeah, well you got the blood off your fingers," Tsuzuki threw back, as if challenged. "But you've got these weird red things on your hands."

Hisoka yanked his hands back but Tsuzuki doggedly refused denial; he took them and pulled them towards him with insistence. A fat tear rolled off Hisoka's baby-face cheek, which Tsuzuki immediately noticed.

"I'm sorry!" Tsuzuki yelped, dropping Hisoka's hands. "I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!" Tears of frustration stung his own eyes and he took Hisoka's arms and shook him, trying to get his apology in through actions rather than through ineffective words.

Hisoka cried out as another roar sounded, expecting another wave of blood to attempt drowning him, and he found himself shielded by the trunk of Tsuzuki's body. The slashes on Tsuzuki's arm covered Hisoka's eyes directly; he couldn't see anything aside from the wide black lines marking death and suffering and sorrow.

* * *

"Hisoka?"

He was lying on his stomach, the side of his face resting in the dirt, his eyes open but not lucid. Tsuzuki's hand was cupped inside Hisoka's, their fingers laced as Tsuzuki leaned his fingers backwards and Hisoka hooked his own in forward. It took a moment for Hisoka to realize that he had moved his face closer to their arms and he was running his tongue over the scars, catching the taste of flesh and iron and collecting it in his mouth.

"Hisoka?" Tsuzuki repeated, moving his other hand to touch Hisoka's face.

Hisoka tucked his head against Tsuzuki's palm. He could see red running up his arm, dull but still obvious, and he shut his eyes against the abominable sight.

"These scars…they never go away, do they?"

"I guess they…no." Tsuzuki hesitated, biting his lower lip. "No, they don't ever, really."

"But…" Hisoka whispered scratchily, "they can…eventually…stop hurting all the time, can't they?"

Tsuzuki laid the side of his head against Hisoka's and nodded. "Yeah…sometimes you can forget. Well, not "forget", 'cause they're still there, but…you can ignore them…every once in awhile. They can't hurt…all the time."

Tsuzuki shifted his weight to allow Hisoka to roll over onto his back again. Hisoka's arms slid around Tsuzuki's neck as he accepted a kiss.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Good." Tsuzuki laughed uncertainly. "I'm so glad…"

"Tsuzuki?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. And Tsuzuki…I love you."

For a moment it struck Hisoka how amazing it was that Tsuzuki was so gentle. But as he stared up at his husband, the sadly blissful features of his visage illuminated by the glow of fireflies while he softly caressed Hisoka's face, he briefly wondered why he might have expected any different.


	15. Telling

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yami no Matsuei

**Shout-outs:**

Aacire: Thank you much! Hope you had a nice time on your trip.

AnimeAngelRin: (Very slowly breaks into a mouth-splitting grin) I wub you. (Glomp) I'm glad the symbolism wasn't too weird; I didn't want to write a lemon but to go from Point A to Point C was too jarring, so Point B had to be thrown in. Yes, South_east_ (Had to fix that, I'm _awful_ with directions) is due for 9 chapters. Just 11 more chapters…when you put it that way, it sounds so near to the end…

elirian: The fireflies were just _begging_ to be used as symbolism—the firefly landing on his hand in the anime is the "loner" he was talking about, by the way. Thank you so much for the compliments. This update is dedicated to you!

Kiko812: (Tosses a cough drop and some meatless chicken soup (Quote is a vegetarian)). You get yourself well. Thank you very much!

Eternity's Heir: I'm so glad that I'm really coming through to you. It means that I'm succeeding. I really want people to pay more attention to Hisoka's trauma, as well as Tsuzuki's. Too many just gloss it over. The fact remains that, previous to Tsuzuki, the only intimate encounter Hisoka had wasn't so much sex as it was _violence_. I know rape victims _can_ move on to normal sexual lives, but when you add all the abuse from his parents, plus the drawn-out agony of his death, that's going to leave some awful, indelible scars. It's not something he's going to get over easily. In fact, I think Hisoka taking a mental vacation to Symbolism Land last chapter was not only significant for the story, but something he needed to do lest he completely freak out. Anyway…End Rant. If I got all that through to you, I've done my job and you've made my day.

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: Poor little George! (Pats his head) Speaking of knots in the stomach, you almost had me thinking you didn't like the chapter! Don't worry, it's perfectly fine that you didn't get the middle part right away—I had difficulties writing it, myself. Also, you expressed yourself beautifully, don't think otherwise.

Anyway…South_east_ of Eden (Sorry, that was _my_ mistake, why do I always get West and East mixed up?) is a total reference to East of Eden. You really should read it; it was one of our four Summer Reading books that I enjoyed.

laustic: Yes, it's so like him isn't it? (Snuggles him)

Yuka Hasumi: You're making me blush! Thank you. (Bows profusely)

Tsurusaki Eiri: Welcome to the review board! Thank you. (Bows)

**Side Note #1:** I know you're going to hate me, but there is no Tsuzuki/Hisoka in this chapter. (Ducks flying tomatoes) I'm sorry! They don't fit into the timeline of the chapter: by the time I hit Watari/Tatsumi, they'll be asleep. I'm using this chapter to showcase the _other _couples that will be important in the sequel: Tsubaki/Eileen, Tatsumi/Watari, Suzaku/Touda, and a teeny-tiny amount of Wakaba/Terazuma. Again, I'm sorry! (Get smashed in the face with a rotten tomato). Oh, and AEK, _YES_ everything from this chapter is going to be important to the sequel, including T/E.

**Side Note #2:** I'm assuming no one besides Tsuzuki knows that Hisoka was raped.

**Side Note #3:** Watari goes off on a Chemistry tangent this chapter. Here's what he means: Water is made of two Hydrogen atoms and one Oxygen atom. Hydrogen has a positive charge of 1 per atom, and Oxygen has a negative charge of 2 per atom. For a molecule (atoms stuck together) to be stable, the charges have to cancel out. That is why Water has 2 Hydrogen atoms and 1 Oxygen atom.

**Side Note #4:** Tatsumi and Watari are eating Kaiseki, Japanese formal cuisine. The "appetizers", if you will, are rice and miso soup.

**Side Note #5:** Pathological Intoxication means drinking when you're upset, which can lead to violence against yourself and others.

* * *

_Trusting desire, starting to learn_

_Walking through fire without a burn_

_Clinging, a shoulder, a leap begins_

_Stinging and older, asleep on pins_

_So here we go_

- RENT, "I Should Tell You"

* * *

Telling

* * *

From where she sat, Tsubaki spread her pashmina over her shoulders to add extra warmth, protecting herself from the dropping temperatures of the increasingly vacant palace. Saya and Yuma had not allowed the party to end with the departure of the newlyweds, though they had been unable to slow the inevitable exiting of people as tiredness overcame them. The hall was emptying as Wakaba scuttled back and forth, leading guests to the Suzaku Gates before returning to enjoy her impromptu date with Terazuma. 

"Hi."

Tsubaki turned around at the call. Eileen nervously fiddled with her hair, aiming her eyes anywhere but at Tsubaki's face.

"Hello," Tsubaki said.

"You're really amazing with those Tarot cards," Eileen said evasively, still not looking Tsubaki in the face.

"It really does all depend on the Querent," Tsubaki said modestly, holding the cards against her chest maternally. "It's not really me at all."

"The Reader's gotta have _something_ to do with it," Eileen pressed.

"Only as a conduit," Tsubaki said quietly. "Otherwise, they only have power over the card if the Reader and the Querent are the same person."

"Hey, why don't you do one now?" Eileen suggested, a bit too eager. "For us. You can do that, can't you?"

Tsubaki sent a long, hard look at Eileen, who bit her lip and looked away again.

"What do you want me to read for?" Tsubaki asked slowly.

"I dunno, you're the expert, you think of something," Eileen said quickly, uncomfortably.

"Eileen…" Tsubaki said hesitantly, stepping toward her. "I'm only going to do this if there's some hope for us."

"Tsubaki…"

"I lost my mother, Eileen. And then I lost you. And then my father, and finally, the love I had for someone I'd worshipped for _7_ years. Don't you _dare_ get my hopes up for nothing, Eileen. I'm sick of losing what's important to me. If you're serious about this…about getting back together…"

"Tsu…Camille-_dono_." Eileen's lips inverted into her mouth for control. "Of _course_ I'm serious about this."

Tsubaki took a breath as she removed her cards from their package. She shuffled the cards once, twice, three times. She cut the deck into three piles and stacked them again, and then repeated herself. Then, like a casino dealer, she began laying cards down on the table, one at a time, in the shape of two triangles, 2 cards for each side and a third for the tip. Eileen watched her with hawk-like eyes as she placed the 11th card below and in between the two triangles.

She gestured at the arrangement on the table. "This spread is the Handfasting Spread." She put her hand on the farthest left card, the one at the bottom. "This card represents what I must commit to."

She flipped the card over. "The Lovers," she reported. "We already know what that stands for."

She reached for the second card, the one just above it, and flipped it over. "This is the problem I have with prompting my commitment. Death Reversed. I'm stuck in the past."

"And why's that?" Eileen asked softly.

"That's what this card reveals," Tsubaki said, flipping over the zenith of the triangle. "The Ten of Swords. This means that everything's gone south. The Ten of Swords, as you can see by the picture…" She showed Eileen the portrait of a bloody man lying prostrate with 10 swords sticking into his back, "…means death. The end. No hope, nothing."

"Oh." Eileen seemed unsure about what to say.

"This card," Tsubaki tapped the one underneath it, "tells me what I can do about it." She flipped the fourth card over. "Judgment. We know what this means, too."

"Letting go of the past, right?" Tsubaki nodded. "It sounds like a good idea."

"This card," she touched the one underneath it, "says how my commitment will affect those around me." She flipped it. "The Ace of Cups. I make you happy."

She reached for the lowest left card on the second triangle. "This is how it will affect me spiritually." She overturned the card. "The Sun." She smiled, feeling her eyes begin to fill up. "Everything is going to be okay."

She touched the seventh. "How it will affect me emotionally." This card yielded—"The Three of Cups. Joy for something new."

The eighth. "How it will affect me physically." … "The Chariot. In this context, it means travel…"

The ninth. "How it will affect me mentally." … "Strength. Willpower, and…and courage."

The tenth. "How it will affect me materially." … "The World. It means travel, in this context, again."

"And this one?" Eileen touched the separate, eleventh card.

"That one is the blessing upon the union."

Eileen turned it over and read it. "The Six of Cups."

"Nostalgia," Tsubaki said. "And…reunion."

She looked up into Eileen's face, her mahogany eyes swimming. Eileen's eyes began filling with tears, as well. She sniffled and wiped at her face.

"This has been really stupid of us, hasn't it?" she asked rhetorically.

Tsubaki nodded mutely.

"So…what are we going to do?"

Tsubaki looked down at the cards and lightly tapped the World card. "I guess…travel."

* * *

"You, dear Suzaku, are terribly inebriated." 

"Shh-shh-shh-shh-shh…shh!"

"And you just sprayed all over me." Touda could barely balance himself with Suzaku's upper body in his arms, her body weight leaning away from him, her head tilted back dangerously. Staggering drunkenly did not become her, and being the only Shiki left at the party, he had taken it upon himself to escort her back home. "Jeez, what was _in_ that stuff those two she-devils gave you?"

"Silence!" Suzaku ordered, waving her hand in front of Touda's face. "I have an announcement of the highest! I…am…incredibly…sad!"

"Hoo boy…"

"Yep! I'm sad!" Suzaku yelled, and a few small birds took to the air. "Sad-sad-sad!"

"Suzaku, you are drunk-drunk-drunk," Touda stated flatly.

"Shh! Wanna know why I'm sad?"

"Because you realize how pathetic it is that you are, as humans says, "trashed" and completely dependant upon someone who you claim to despise to get you home safely?"

"Nope! I'm sad because Tsuzuki's gone and gotten himself hitched."

"Isn't that a reason to be happy, Suzaku?"

"You dunno anything. Stupid snake. Stupid dancing snake."

"Okay. You are thoroughly intoxicated and getting increasingly heavy. I am going to carry you home, and I will laugh at you if you feel this in the morning."

"Put me down!" Suzaku hissed, smacking futilely at Touda as he lifted her into his arms and tossed her like a sack of flour over his shoulder. "You know, Mr. Stupid Dancing Fire Snake, if I was sober, I'd kill you!"

"Yes, but you're not sober, so I'm not feeling particularly threatened at the moment, Suzaku."

"I hate you."

"I'm well aware of that," Touda said dispassionately, plodding along as if he would empty-handed in broad daylight.

"Stupid Dancing Snake."

"Drunk Sword-fighting Bird."

Suzaku fell silent, her hands beating a steady rhythm on Touda's back.

"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't do that."

Suzaku hiccupped, loudly, and Touda felt something small and wet fall on his back, seeping through his shirt.

"Are you crying?"

"No."

"Yes you are."

"Shut up!" Two more droplets fell against Touda's spine.

"Great. I've got a drunk, emotional phoenix who hates me on my back, but literally. All righty. Down you go."

"Watch your hands, mister!" Suzaku squawked, as Touda adjusted her into a better position. He hoisted her off his shoulder and no less than plopped her down on the water fountain sitting in the middle of Tenkuu's courtyard.

"Now, why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying!"

"Suzaku, I can see it. I'm looking right at you."

"No you're not," she responded confusedly.

"Suzaku, _you're_ not looking at me. Your eyes aren't even capable of focusing in the same direction at the moment. D-mn, what did they _give_ you?"

"It was yummy," Suzaku asserted, stubbornly childlike.

"And why are you crying?"

"I told you, Deaf! Because Tsuzuki's married!"

"And I told _you_, Drunk, that that's a reason to be happy!"

"I'm happy!" Suzaku yelled defensively.

"Then why are you crying, for Heaven's sake?"

"Because Tsuzuki doesn't _need_ me anymore!" Suzaku's yelled, a small sob escaping with her words, her black eyes glistening.

"Suzaku, it's official. You are drunk _and_ insane."

"Shut up!" Suzaku yelled, her face bright pink. "I mean it, you…insensitive…butt crack!"

Touda's face went through several different expressions before finally settling on the image of controlling his nerves. "Okay, Suzaku. I'll play that. Now, tell me, _why_ won't he need you anymore?"

"Because he's _married_!" Suzaku yelled, seeming surprisingly sober. "I mean, I love Hisoka like a son of a b-tch," she leaned in towards Touda conspiratorially, grabbing his shirt collar, "and I mean it, he says his mother really is a b-tch," she giggled, "but Tsuzuki's got _stability_ now! I'm happy for him, but now I'm…I'm…"

"Expendable?" Touda filled in.

"If that means what I think it means, yes!"

"Suzaku." Touda grabbed her face and pulled her to look him directly in the eyes. "Listen to me. You. Are. Drunk. And crazy. And you don't know what you're saying. Tsuzuki is _always_ going to need you."

"But how do you _know_?" Suzaku breathed into Touda's face.

Touda grimaced and blinked. "First of all, Suzaku, your breath is wretched, to say the least."

"I hate you."

"I know. And second of all, I know because he loves you. Hopefully a _lot_ differently than the way he loves Hisoka, but he loves you. Like an older sister, or a cousin, or something, and…aw, h-ll, what makes you think I'm some expert, again?…And I think that you always "need" the ones you love, somehow or another…?"

Suzaku cocked her head to the side, her finger hooked around her bottom lip, her eyes finally managing to focus on one solid object.

"What?" Touda asked, confused. "What's the matter?"

"Huh." She cocked her head to the other side. "You're really insightful, Touda. Is there a reason I don't like you?"

"Uh…because I tried to kill Tsuzuki in Kyoto, when he was insane and suicidal?"

"Oh…oh, _yeah_."

"Yeah, that's it."

"I hate you, you know," Suzaku reminded him conversationally.

"I think you've made that perfectly clear," Touda replied dryly.

"Touda…I think I'm gonna puke."

"That's expected. Turn around."

Suzaku barely had time to shift in her seat before her stomach contracted, sending a thick, brown mixture with the rancid scent of alcohol and half-digested food pouring out of her mouth to splatter on the ground.

"Oh, _cr-p_," both Suzaku and Touda intoned at the same time, one in obvious pain and the other in something like mild panic. Touda quickly snatched up her hair to keep it from being splashed with vomit. Suzaku managed to move around completely and allow the contents of her stomach to drown in the water of the fountain.

"Note to self—tell Seiryuu that we _need_ modern plumbing," Touda muttered, grimacing at the aching moans erupting from Suzaku's vomit-soaked mouth. Awkwardly he rubbed her back as another wave of nausea hit her and she gagged.

"You better not…tell anyone about this," Suzaku threatened through a groan.

"You'd sound a lot more dangerous if I hadn't just watched you barf in the drinking fountain," Touda returned matter-of-factly, running his clawed fingers absently through her hair.

"I hate you."

"And I love _you_," Touda said, biting back a bit of a smile.

* * *

"Oi, finally, there you are, Tatsumi! What took you so long?" Watari called, waving his arm cheerily. 

"Mental preparation," Tatsumi said steely.

"You know, Tatsumi, you should've never agreed to go out with me if it takes psychological fortifying on your part just to spend an evening in my sole company," Watari pouted. "I certainly don't _need_ to spend the money…"

"_You're_ spending the money?" Tatsumi asked incredulously.

"I'm the one who asked you out, right? It's the gentlemanly thing to do. Though I must tell you, if you order the lobster I _do_ expect a good-night kiss as well as the usual pleasantries, okay?"

Tatsumi felt a sudden pull in his brain, urging him to give the evening a chance.

"I wouldn't order lobster. It's a waste of money," Tatsumi asserted shortly.

"There, _that's_ the Tatsumi I know and love." Watari grinned impishly and linked his arm through Tatsumi's. "So, anyway, I'm thinking Osaka? I'd like to be somewhere where my accent isn't as odd."

"Your accent…?" Tatsumi trailed off. The fact of Watari's self-proclaimed "inaccurate Kansai accent" had been removed from his mind, what with the two decades worth of getting used to it he had accumulated.

Watari laughed in his throat and nodded. "Yep; it's more Osaka than Kyoto. So, d'you mind?"

"No, I suppose not," Tatsumi said. "But I've never been to Osaka…"

"Leave it to me!" Watari offered jubilantly, gripping Tatsumi's arm. "I assure you, I know my way around. It _is_ my birthplace, after all."

Tatsumi lost the time to return with an acerbic yet witty comment as Watari teleported them away. The transportation was jerky, in opposition to the smooth ride that Tatsumi had perfected, and Tatsumi thought briefly that the contrast fit him

"Here we are!" Watari announced gleefully. "My old home! Lovely, isn't she?"

Tatsumi adjusted his glasses. "She looks markedly similar to anywhere else in Japan."

"Killjoy," Watari teased. Tatsumi made an almost affirming noise in his throat. "I must admit, Tatsumi, I'm _terribly_ famished. Haven't eaten in quite awhile, you know. Ready to go stuff our faces?"

Tatsumi looked a little averse to the phrasing but nodded. "I'm hungry, as well."

"Good! Now, that place's gotta be around here…"

Tatsumi had a sudden feeling of dread as Watari tugged at his wrist, happily half-jogging and half-skipping away, and dragging a tripping Tatsumi along behind him.

"So, the wedding was gorgeous," Watari said chattily. "I never thought we would see Bon get so free with his feelings. He looked a little pale just before he and Tsuzuki left, though. I wonder why that is."

"Too many emotions, perhaps?" Tatsumi suggested.

"I thought he'd been getting better…" Watari mused worriedly. "Well, I guess Tsuzuki will take care of him. They have a knack for that, the two of them."

"That they do."

"Ooh…I'm sorry," Watari said suddenly, mentally smacking himself. "It doesn't bother you to talk about this, right?"

"The topic does not bother me in the slightest, Watari," Tatsumi said, his voice too firm with aggravation at the recurring question.

"No need to get snippy, Tatsumi," Watari chastised lightly. "Take it as a compliment. I like you, so I worry about your happiness."

"About that…I've been wondering."

"Wondering what?"

"What _is_ it about me that you like?"

"Come again?" Watari blinked.

"Call it excessive curiosity, but I don't quite understand what you see in me," Tatsumi said candidly, looking at Watari with a cocked eyebrow.

"What do I…? Well, you know, they say opposites attract," Watari began explaining, awkwardly. "But they have to be compatible, too. Like Water. Two "plus one" positively-charged ions of Hydrogen, and one "minus two" negatively-charged ion of Oxygen make Water. I guess I figured you and I were like that. I mean, we're opposites, and we can catfight, but we're not so volatile that we blow things up, and we get along, and we can talk. I dunno, I guess I just…like you."

Tatsumi nodded slowly. The talk of Chemistry wasn't off-putting; indeed, it almost seemed to help.

"And what about you, Tatsumi?" Watari suddenly tossed back playfully. "Why did you agree to go out with me if doubts are plaguing your thoughts?"

Tatsumi opened his mouth to answer, and after a pause shut it again. He didn't know; it was something he had admitted to himself quite a while ago. He didn't understand what had made him accept the offer of a date; after he had left the lab he'd had a rush of incredulousness to the brain, for both the fact that he had opened up and for the fact that he had accepted a date, and he had been tempted him to go back and break it off. And he didn't understand what had kept him from doing just that.

"Answer sometime this century, Tatsumi."

"I'm…not sure," Tatsumi finally admitted truthfully.

"Well, don't fret; I am fully accepting of the fact that you have absolutely no idea why you are out on a date with me," Watari assured, squeezing Tatsumi's arm. "Let's just assume that some part of your impossibly large brain inexplicably likes me and leave it at that. Ah, here we are!" Watari proclaimed suddenly.

"Watari, this place is…"

"Much nicer than that hotel you set me, Tsuzuki, and Bon up with in Kyoto that time," Watari said. Indeed, the two-story restaurant looked clean, well-kept, and in possession of indoor plumbing. "This place doesn't get a lot of traffic, so it's perfect for dates. I went here a lot with K—…when I was alive."

The shadow-master sent a searching glance at Watari as he pulled open the door and allowed the scientist to enter before him.

"Ooh, how gallant," Watari teased with faux coquettishness. "You're making me blush."

"I take it you want me to leave you out in the cold next time?"

"You and Bon are the same. Just can't have a sense of humor to save your lives. Table for two, non-smoking, please."

The maitre-d nodded, fetched two menus off his podium, and led the pair up the stairs to a small table. As they took their seats on the floor, Tatsumi noticed the large window the table was situated next to. They were on level with the streetlamps, illuminating a black and blue night.

"Goodness, I've missed this city," Watari said. "My work was at the University of Kyoto but I came back to Osaka a lot."

"For family?" Tatsumi queried.

"No, for…the person I was seeing lived in Osaka, when he wasn't at the school," Watari said, difficultly.

Their waitress appeared, bearing sake, and asked for their patience as he had another table that was wrapping up.

"Is this person the one whom we were, ehm, "discussing" this morning before the wedding?" Tatsumi asked, attempting delicacy.

"Yes it was, and I don't want to "discuss" it again," Watari said vehemently. Tatsumi blinked at the force in Watari's demeanor. It was so rare to see the bouncy, extroverted scientist go to the other end of an extreme to become stoic and standoffish. It sent off an uneasy feeling in Tatsumi's gut.

"Excuse me, sir, don't I know you?"

Their waitress had returned carrying the obligatory bowls of rice and miso soup. She was giving Watari a funny look as she set his food before him.

"I don't think so," Watari said, and Tatsumi caught a whiff of nervousness.

"I'm a veteran here, 30 years, and I never forget a face," the waitress replied, still not breaking her gaze from Watari. "I remember you, was it…20 years ago? Yes, I know you!" The waitress grinned triumphantly. "You're Watari Yutaka, aren't you?"

Watari smiled uneasily. "Yeah…that's me."

"You don't look any different than you did in 1980!"

"Funny that," Watari said, laughing nervously and scratching the back of his head.

"I know a lot of women who'd kill for that ability," the waitress said with a chuckle. "It's been so long. Did you finally move to Kyoto? I heard you talking about it the last time you were in here."

'_D-mn_, this woman's got a long memory,' Watari thought to himself. "No, Kyoto wasn't for me."

"Oh, I suppose so," she said, suddenly sober. "Not with Kyo gone…that was terrible, what happened. Absolutely terrible."

"Please, can we not…talk about it?" Watari asked.

"Oh! Of course. I'm sorry. That was unprofessional of me." She bowed her head deeply in apology. "But, it was nice seeing you again, Yutaka-_san_. You were quite the regular here beforehand, so I lost myself, I suppose. Enjoy yourself, please." She gave a respectful nod and stood up, walking away to attend another table.

"…Yeah, so, I have a history with this place," Watari said, returning to his sake.

"She seems…friendly."

"I remember her. She's…well, she _was_ like Saya and Yuma, but without the pressing desire to dress me up in women's clothing." Watari paused, and then laughed. "Ironically."

"Pardon?"

"Hmm? Sorry. Never mix nostalgia and alcohol. You don't need to be a scientific genius like myself to figure that out." He raised his glass. "Kanpai!" Half the glass went down his throat.

"Watari, what did that waitress mean by "what happened"?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Does this have anything to do with…"

"My little outburst before the wedding this morning?" Watari asked. "It has everything to do with it." He looked away, staring out the window. "Lord, I missed this place…20 years is a d-mn long time."

"Watari, what happened?" Tatsumi questioned, pure curiosity in his voice.

Watari looked down into his glass. He ran his finger around the rim thoughtfully, and then sighed. "I guess sooner is better than later…if I didn't tell you, you'd just look up my file, anyway."

The thought hadn't yet occurred to Tatsumi, though with a sudden, small shock of self-recognition he realized he just might have done that.

"So, which do you want to know first: Why her statement is ironic, or what happened 20 years ago? Actually, the two are very much intertwined, so I might as well just out with it." Watari paused, and then smiled. "What a play on words…"

"Just say it, if you're going to say anything, Watari."

"Well, you see, Tatsumi, the thing is…I'm…" Watari paused, the struggle in his mind evident on his face. "I'm…well, I'm…I'm what you call…I'm what's called a "transsexual"."

Tatsumi blinked. And then again.

"A what?"

"A transsexual," Watari repeated. "That means I have an inborn desire to be a woman. Actually _be_ a female."

"But…" Tatsumi sputtered out a few syllables before managing to wrap his tongue around a word. "Why?"

"Dunno," Watari said, shrugging. "No one really does."

"How do you know?"

"The same way I know that I like you. I just do. It's something I've known since I was, like, 12 or something, but I only really _got_ it when I realized that my most pressing desire was to have a baby. Come out of my body, that is."

Tatsumi tried to organize this information into his mental files. The imaginary assistants in his mind weren't doing a very thorough job.

"I was…23, I think," Watari began hesitantly, "when I realized that I wanted to be pregnant. It was that same year when I met him. Makishima Kyo. And I was d-mn lucky to find him; we had so many things in common. Bisexuality, a very deep love for each other, and the desire to have children—except he didn't want to actually _have_ them, while _I_ did. You don't come across that kind of fortune every day, Tatsumi."

"I know that much," Tatsumi stammered, still trying to order out his mind.

"So, what we naturally did was begin looking for ways for us to concieve," Watari continued, pain beginning to lace his words. "Sex changes weren't available, and in any case they cause infertility. So, what did two disgruntled scientists do? Turn to the occult; to magick-with-a-"k"."

"That potion you're always trying to…"

"Yep," Watari said, as if previously knowing what Tatsumi was going to say. "That sex-change potion is what we discovered together after years of research. It was like discovering the correct formula for alchemy—we were so happy. We could do it, we knew we could. _Everyone_ knew we could. And that's…that's why we…" Watari took in a shuddery breath. "…never got to…do it."

Tatsumi leaned forward slightly.

"We made a deal with ourselves, Kyo and I, that we wouldn't hide," Watari continued. "That we wouldn't pretend to just be lab partners. We didn't make banners or anything, but he was my boyfriend and everyone knew it. We wanted it that way. And a lot of people were okay with it. But…there's always some a-shole…always…"

Watari dropped the sugar packet and his hand flew to cover his mouth. He looked away and then back quickly, before shaking his head and painstakingly wiping his hands across his eyes.

"We were actually beginning the experiment that night…and the lab blew up. And it wasn't my fault that time, Tatsumi. Some phobe' blew up the lab. I survived. Kyo died. I saw it. I watched it. Watched his skin…his face…"

Watari suddenly cut himself off and buried his face in his hands. "I felt like I caused it. What's more, I knew the person who did it. Knew he hated us. But I didn't…didn't do anything to prevent it. I hated him. I hated myself. After I got out of the hospital, I followed him clear to the other side of the country. That's why the waitress doesn't know I'm dead. You should've seen the local headlines, Tatsumi. 'Transsexual kills lover's muderer, then kills self'. I think it's the most bizarre murder-suicide of our times. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Tatsumi nearly visibly shuddered as Watari slammed his hand down on his drink and then raised it to his mouth, throwing his head back and chugging it as if he had never had liquid before.

"Excuse me." Watari got up and hurriedly left the table, making his way towards the restrooms. Tatsumi watched him go, trying to piece the conversation together in his mind.

'He reminds me of Tsuzuki.'

The realization was startling and for a half-moment Tatsumi couldn't believe he had given that thought life. But as he tried to shove it into the scores of files his brain was divided into, his inner self looked at the notice and slowly began to comprehend it.

Watari was like Tsuzuki. His concern for Tatsumi's happiness in regards to the engagement. The desire to hide his past. The way he stopped up his tears with pathetic attempts at humor that only made Tatsumi feel even more helpless to do anything. The bouts of pathological intoxication. The self-blame. It was like Tsuzuki with a new appearance, a new way of speaking, and…something else. Something else was different.

Tatsumi glanced out the window, staring down at the cars speeding by below.

'I wonder if I remind him of Makishima-_san_?'

* * *

"Well, I think we can classify _that_ as the worst date in history," Watari said. 

The night was cold, despite being July, and Watari stuck to Tatsumi's side doggedly as they wandered vaguely towards their own homes. He had emerged from the bathroom, pale except for an odd mix of red and purple-blue around his eyes, to continue eating with Tatsumi in almost perfect silence broken only by the clinking of dishes and Tatsumi's throat-clearing coughs, and they had left in great haste.

Tatsumi shrugged mutely.

"Though I gotta admit, I handled it better than when I told Tsuzuki," Watari continued, babbling. "I didn't barf on my companion this time, which is always a good thing."

Tatsumi nodded, again noiselessly.

"Are you punishing me or something?" Watari finally asked snappishly. "'Cause you _wanted_ to know."

"I am not punishing you, Watari," Tatsumi said evenly. "But what do you expect me to respond to a story like that with?"

"…Touché." Watari laughed, and Tatsumi felt the small twinge of the "something different" feeling he had experienced earlier. "I guess you're right."

Watari shivered and leaned his head against Tatsumi's shoulder. "Jeez, it's cold. I bet it's going to rain. So, was the food good, at least?"

"It was delicious."

"Good. Kyo liked it, too, when we were alive. To tell the truth, I kinda wish he'd stuck around in Meifu. But he was always more ballsy than me. He was never so wishy-washy as to let regrets hold him back. I'm kinda glad for him…Heaven's gotta be nice. Though, you know, it's been a long 20 years without him…d-mn, here I was being so closed-mouth about it and now I'm blabbering."

"Why haven't you passed on yet?"

"The potion's not done yet, is it?" Watari returned with a smirk. "I don't want to die until I get at least a couple years as a woman."

Tatsumi sent a hard glance at Watari, to which the blonde returned with an equally intense but blank look. _There_ was one of the differences between Tsuzuki and Watari: Watari was better at hiding the complete truth. With Tsuzuki, Tatsumi could tell if he was bothered, even he didn't know the extent of damage done. With Watari, all Tatsumi had was his suspicion—as well as the nagging feeling of something that _still_ different.

"Here's my place," Watari suddenly said, stopping front of a tall apartment complex. "Hope there's less than an inch of dust on my bed; it's been awhile since I slept anywhere but the lab." Watari cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I guess I'll…head in, then."

Tatsumi nodded.

"Listen, I'm sorry, Tatsumi," Watari apologized awkwardly. "I was hoping it'd go well. I really do like you. Maybe we'll give it a shot again, some other time? If I don't totally disgust you, that is."

"You do not digust me, Watari," Tatsumi asserted.

"Good." Watari smiled. "I'm relieved."

Tatsumi blinked, completely missing the flash of blonde until the hair's owner had grabbed the back of his skull and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Good night, Tatsumi."

After Watari had teleported into his apartment Tatsumi stood for several minutes, holding the cheek Watari had planted his lips on, sealing a promise to try again. Tatsumi had neither refused nor accepted the advance, but somehow he thought Watari would not allow him the former.

And there was still something…


	16. Milestones

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yami no Matsuei

**Shout-outs:**

Eternity's Heir: I know; I pride myself on the "Watari is a transsexual" idea. As I read the manga I just get more and more convinced that he _is_. I might just write the story of him and Kyo—_might_. As for Suzaku/Touda, I really like that scene, too, but I think it could've been written better. And YAY! Tsubaki and Eileen are back together. I've decided that they're going to be important to the sequel, too.

AnimeAngelRin: 'Course I made it all up. Matsushita would never write anything like that. I think "interesting" is the perfect word for that chapter.

Aacire: Definitely an interesting road for them all; not just Watari/Tatsumi, but Touda/Suzaku and Tsubaki/Eileen, and slightly also Terazuma/Wakaba.

jennamarie: I'm so lucky—I haven't thrown up since 2003 and I've never been drunk, so I had to draw up everything about that from memory and imagination. "Quite spectacular" for Watari/Tatsumi, you say? Yes, in the "Keeping food down" department, but that's not a date I'd like to be on.

elirian: Aww, you're welcome, sweetie! (Hugs back) T/H were asleep, remember? Now, if you want to learn about Tarot, I suggest going to www. aeclectic. net/tarot/learn/meanings. I learned a good deal from them. I also recommend getting your own pack with an instructive booklet.

Suzaku/Touda is incredibly fun to write. It's actually enjoyable to tackle Suzaku's "hate" of Touda and break down the walls she's put up with him. He's a snarky little b-st-rd but he's there when it counts and he knows what he's on about, and I want her to realize that gradually.

Tatsumi/Watari, on the other hand, is so incredibly DIFFICULT! Argh, I almost wish I hadn't attempted it. But I'm so glad that I finally wrote about Watari and Kyo—that's been bouncing around in my head for weeks and I finally got it down! I was actually going to include another part about Tatsumi's past by making them meet up with his little sister, but when I was done writing it I read it over and thought "It's overkill, it doesn't flow easily, and if I make this important to the sequel it'll be suicide." So I nixed it. Maybe I'll make it into a drabble later.

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: Bad George! (Spanks with rolled-up newspaper. George pouts. Quote caves and snuggles George) Okay, skipping T/E, I expected that. I'm glad you had fun with Touda/Suzaku. And the vomiting is necessary, because it leads up to the T/S in this chapter.

I know completely about Watari! I originally just drew up Watari's boyfriend, and then I just thought "transsexual". It hit me, with the sex-change potion and how girly he looks and acts lots of the time. Now I think it's so blatantly obvious that he's a transgirl (boy who wants to be a girl). But about Watari's death…I really don't remember if I ever read something talking about how he died. I made up his past all on the spot, so you can call it AU. And yes, there will be plenty of W/T in the sequel, though it's mainly going to be in the second half, along with Touda/Suzaku and some Wakaba/Terazuma. (The beginning is almost pure Tsuzuki/Hisoka, with Tsubaki/Eileen, Muraki/Ukyo, and some mild Chizuru/Rika.)

Pumpkin-Pie 4ever aka Lynn: Suspense? Hmm…well, read on!

**Side Note #1:** Well, here it is, kiddies. The last chapter. This'll be the first multi-chapter story I've completed since Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boys. I'm sad to let it go, but eager to start the sequel. Today (6/15/06) is the start of summer vacation, so updates should be more frequent until late August.

Thank you all for sticking with me, and please continue to support me. See you in Southeast of Eden!

* * *

Milestones

* * *

The persistent, undaunted warmth of a dawning sun was what finally woke Hisoka. It took him a moment to remember where he was, as his shielded his eyes against the strong, beating rays.

"Cr-p," he said, suddenly realizing where he was when he felt small clumps of earth sticking to his back. "We can't stay here. This is public property."

"Do you realize that you're talking to yourself?" The body next to his stirred and stretched its legs.

"Did I wake you?" Hisoka asked.

"Nope," Tsuzuki replied, covering a yawn with his hand. "I woke up a _long_ time ago. But you looked so peaceful; I didn't want to disturb you. Do you know you're absolutely beautiful when you sleep?"

A trace of a blush graced Hisoka's cheeks. "Stupid."

"And besides, I liked that sleeping arrangement. Very comfy." Tsuzuki nuzzled his head into Hisoka's neck contentedly, and then planted a small kiss at the curve of his shoulder. His hand went out to stroke Hisoka's cheek.

"So…are you feeling okay?" Tsuzuki asked tentatively.

"I'm…yeah." Hisoka turned his head to look at his husband's face. "I'm all right."

"Really?" Tsuzuki asked concernedly, his hand continuing to caress Hisoka's face. "You're absolutely sure?"

Hisoka inclined his head. "Mm."

"Hisoka?"

"It's weird."

"How's that?" Tsuzuki pushed his upper body off the ground, propping himself up with his arm and hovering above Hisoka as the blonde looked up.

"It's like…" Hisoka hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Like I've lived under his shadow for the past 7 years, and now I'm…it's like a slave being set free; it's so…so d-mn _new_. I really don't know what to do now, because…"

"Because?"

"Because I know…it's not enough," Hisoka said, biting his lip painfully. "I know it isn't over. Not while he's alive. Not while…while I still remember."

"Yeah…I understand," Tsuzuki said, his own eyes gazing into the past, where the death of his sister and scores of others took up permanent residence in his memories. "I understand totally. It'll probably never be _completely_ over. But…I dunno…" He hand slipped into Hisoka's. "Remember what Kazusa said? It was back in May. She said…it's not good to forget the past, because it helps you grow…something like that."

Hisoka nodded. "To get to a point…where it doesn't matter anymore."

"Yeah." Tsuzuki brushed away Hisoka's bangs and kissed his forehead.

"So…where do we go from here? I mean, literally. You conned Tatsumi into giving us the week."

"Well, first, we need a shower. Picking this place obviously wasn't one of my more brilliant decisions…"

"What "more brilliant decisions"?" Hisoka asked, smirking.

Tsuzuki flicked him on the nose. "Meanie."

"Get over it," Hisoka responded. "And don't flick me. I don't begrudge you this place. It was something you needed to do."

"That's my love, so understanding," Tsuzuki said, kissing the spot he had just assaulted with his finger. "Okay, so we head home, get showered, get changed, and then…_then_ we do whatever you want to do. There _are_ places I'm determined to take you, so be prepared for the attack of the sugary substances." Tsuzuki grinned impishly and tickled Hisoka's ear. "But today, it's all up to you. To make up for the places I'm going to drag you to."

"Or because you were too lazy to plan anything."

"Hiso_ka_! Mean!"

"Oh, hush up." Hisoka rolled his eyes.

"But I mean it," Tsuzuki insisted, lips and eyes pouting. "It's all you today. Now, come on. Is there any place you want to go?"

Hisoka hesitated. His idea was a little crazy. Scratch that, he mentally ordered himself; it was completely insane. But…Tsuzuki had done it. It was his turn.

"Actually…"

"Yeah?"

"There _is_ a place I want to go."

* * *

"Mm…mm_mm_…mm-OH!"

Suzaku sat straight up, something she instantly regretted when the pounding in her head turned into an anvil slamming unceremoniously into her brain. Yellow and green rings danced in front of her eyes as a wave of nausea hit her.

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that. The maids're already p-ssed enough that they have to clean out the water fountain; I don't think making them clean your sheets would lighten the mood."

"YOU!" Suzaku screeched, quite forgetful of her headache, and yanked her covers over herself. "What are you _doing_ in my _bedroom_?"

"Well, since you chucked up your stomach in the drinking fountain, I figured you were in no shape to walk yourself home. So I carried you."

"Were you in here the entire night?" Suzaku yelled, her face turning the same color as her flames.

"If I was, it was only in your dreams," Touda said, smiling puckishly as he sat on her mattress.

"You lascivious…"

"Oh, come off it," Touda cut her off authoritatively. "I put you to bed and sat on the balcony to keep an eye on you. Because if you threw up in your sleep you would have died, and that would be _bad_."

"I'll thank you to knock that sarcasm off," Suzaku muttered steely, through clenched teeth.

"I've been awake for over 24 hours. I've earned the right to sarcasm."

Suzaku rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help noticing the sagging quality to Touda's aura, indicating the complete lack of sleep on his part. The fool had been up all night making sure she didn't choke on her own vomit. The thought of him watching her all night was both immensely creepy and, to some small part of her, oddly endearing.

"Okay, do you want me to say it?" Suzaku asked snappishly. "Thank you."

"I wasn't expecting gratitude," Touda answered, blunt and sincere.

"Don't be such a martyr," Suzaku growled in frustration. "You did something for me you didn't have to and I gave my thanks for it. Just accept my "thank you" and let's get on with life."

Touda saluted, smartly and sarcastically, and grinned. "I'm assuming you're not especially hungry after your little bout of inebriation?"

Suzaku was suddenly painfully aware of the uproar her stomach was in. "Thanks for the reminder."

"Poor Suzaku," Touda teased wickedly, reaching out a hand to press against her stomach.

"You _pervert_!"

His hand caught hers in mid-air just before she could bring it clear across his face. "Oh, relax. I was just teasing you. You fly off the handle _entirely_ too easily, Suzaku."

"You're just lucky I don't have you arrested!"

"And why don't you?" Touda smiled widely, and Suzaku's face burned.

"Because Tsuzuki would be mad if you were locked up," Suzaku answered steely.

"You like to use him as an excuse a lot, you know that?" Touda asked conversationally.

"You impudent little—!"

Touda pressed his mouth against her palm, and then pushed her hand against her own mouth. Suzaku's words turned to dust in her throat.

"Now, now, is that any way to treat someone who professed his love for you just yesterday?" Touda asked, the corners of his mouth twitching in a barely-concealed grin. "Come on, Suzaku. I've told you all about my reasons for almost killing Tsuzuki. You and I haven't been direct enemies since the war. And even _you_ have to admit that we're oh-so-very-compatible. Do you have any _real_ reason to dislike me?"

"I have—" Suzaku dropped off and frowned.

"Exactly."

"Don't be smug!"

"I'm not. I'm just right."

"You are _completely_ smug!"

"Then I owe you an apology."

"D-mn right you d—"

Suzaku was cut off as Touda leaned over and pecked her on the mouth. She blinked and pulled back, but this time made no move to rebuke him.

"Now, I advise bed rest for the drunkard," Touda said, a tease lacing his words as he stood up. "Sweet dreams, my love."

"Don't get ahead of yourself; we haven't even—_d-mn it_!"

Touda grinned widely and escaped out her bedchamber doors before her overstuffed red pillow could assail the back of his head.

"I _hate_ you!"

"Love you, too!"

* * *

"Hee-hee, oh, _darling_! What're you—?"

"'T'is nothing for my angel-wings," Yuma cooed, having swept Saya off her feet and into her arms.

"I feel like a bride being carried over the threshold!" Saya squealed, throwing her arms around Yuma's neck.

"Maybe _we_ should be the next to get married!" Yuma thought aloud excitedly.

"Darling, not before our flowers!"

"Do mine ears deceive me?" Yuma asked incredulously. "Are they back together?"

"Yes, I talked to Maria-_chan_ on the phone this morning while you were still asleep. She said Eileen-_chan_ and Tsubaki-_chan_ went home together and were up all night talking. They're going to use the maximum amount of days a Shinigami can spend in another country to see each other, and keep switching back and forth between here and China, until Tsubaki-_chan_ is ready to get married."

"Angel-wings, that's wonderful!" Yuma crowed, planting her mouth on Saya's. She plopped down on a chair to intensify the kiss, which Saya gladly allowed and perpetuated.

"Torii-_san_! Fukiya-_san_! Don't use company time to consummate your relationship! Your division is _Hokkaido_, so why are you even here?"

"Tatsumi!" Yuma and Saya broke apart simultaneously, seamlessly, excitement sparkling in their eyes. "We heard, we heard!"

"About what?" Tatsumi asked, a faint ball of nervousness rolling in his stomach.

"Wakaba-_chan_ told us! You and Watari!"

"What about me?" A new voice joined in the din as Watari entered the break room, a white coffee mug in his hand, searching for his daily caffeine fix. 003 perched sleepily on his shoulder.

"You and Tatsumi had a date last night after the wedding!" Yuma said informatively.

"How'd it go, how'd it go?" Saya demanded hungrily.

"Nosy little things, aren't you?" Watari asked with a laugh. "It's none of your business, that's how it went."

"Aw-aw-_aw_!" Yuma and Saya whined unanimously. "Tell us, Watari, _please_?"

"No, I don't think I will," Watari said teasingly, winking wickedly at the pair. "Now, girls, Tatsumi's right. You'd better get back to Hokkaido before those lost souls start piling up on you."

"Yes, _Mother_," Yuma said sulkily, standing up and setting Saya down on her own two feet.

"Look at it this way, darling," Saya said reassuringly as she pulled Yuma out of the break room. "If Watari's our mother, then Tatsumi's our father!"

"Ooh, I didn't think of that!"

Tatsumi quickly shut the door behind them, biting his lip to keep the blood from rushing to his uncomfortable face. Watari was laughing quietly to himself as he filled his cup with coffee.

"Ah, good stuff," he said, inhaling the scent. "I'm surprised you let us buy such good-quality coffee."

"Even _I_ know when budget-cutting goes too far," Tatsumi said dryly. "This office wouldn't run efficiently with you caffeine fanatics losing out on your addiction."

"Yeah, we'd be too busy rioting to get any work done," Watari said with a laugh. "So…get any sleep last night?"

"Yes, plenty," Tatsumi replied. "You?"

"Not really," Watari said. "I'm not used to sleeping in my bed. I can't sleep without the smell of my chemicals, apparently. Also, I kept thinking about how horrendously our date went. And, you know, I thought about Kyo, too. I didn't dream about the explosion, thankfully, though."

"Do you dream about it…often?"

"No, not too much," Watari admitted. "When I first died, yeah, I couldn't sleep for thinking about it. But, you know…20 years go by, and it hurts to think about it but you can live with yourself."

"_20 years go by…"_

"But you can live with yourself…" 

Tatsumi's head involuntarily cocked. That "something different" feeling ignited a small spark in his brain once more.

There were so many ways that Watari reminded him of Tsuzuki. But what was different…aside from occasional bouts brought upon in the intensity of memory…Watari did not hate himself. Watari did not live in guilt. Tatsumi could not see the tears in Watari's eyes or the blood on Watari's hands, the blood and tears that had chased him away from Tsuzuki.

'And how long,' Tatsumi thought to himself pessimistically, 'will that last?'

"Tatsumi? Still with me here?"

Tatsumi brushed aside Watari's hand, waving back and forth in front of his face. "Please don't do that."

"You'd rather I do this?" Watari asked, and suddenly Tatsumi's back was bombarded with Watari's weight as Watari wrapped his arms around Tatsumi's neck for support. Tatsumi overbalanced, his equilibrium faltered and both of them crashed to the ground in a tangled heap, 003 fly in panicked circles above them. Watari burst out laughing, and Tatsumi quickly looked away to hide the slight tilt of his mouth in a quarter-smile.

_And how long will it last?_

* * *

"Hajime? Haji_me_! Hajim—oh, Kuro, you just _can't_ take naps in the middle of the day like this!" Wakaba scolded. She had stumbled upon the all-to familiar sight of Hajime snoozing at his desk. "It's a fire hazard to let him fall asleep with a cigarette in his mouth, no matter how cute he looks with it."

Wakaba suppressed a giggle as she gently plucked the cigarette from Terazuma's mouth. She couldn't really blame Kagan Kuroshungei. Earlier, Terazuma had had an unfortunate run-in with Yuma—one of the rare gems of a time when it really _had_ been an accident on Yuma's part—and Kuro had a thing for napping after transforming. A sulking mechanism, if one was to name it.

Wakaba's hand descended towards Terazuma's ashtray to blot out the burning end of his cigarette.

And she let out a little screech when a man's hand suddenly latched around her wrist, preventing her from doing just that.

Terazuma's ears shot straight up at the sound and his eyes flew open. He jumped to his feet, his eyes and teeth set menacingly against whoever dared to harm Wakaba.

"Hajime, your hand!"

"What about it?" Terazuma demanded stupidly, still fettered by tiredness.

"Look!" Wakaba pointed with her free arm, and Terazuma followed her gaze.

His hand.

Her wrist.

His hand was attached to her wrist.

"What the _h-ll_?" Terazuma demanded.

"I don't know!" Wakaba yelped. "You transformed just today, so Kuro's not gone. Maybe he's just tired? No energy to transform?"

"That's never stopped the son of b-tch before," Terazuma growled.

Wakaba's scold for more proper language died on her lips. Terazuma's eyes were fixated on Wakaba's hand. Dazedly, he raised her hand to his mouth and sucked at the end of the cigarette still clasped between her fingers.

"Maybe…maybe Kuro just likes me?" Wakaba suggested hesitantly.

"Maybe." Terazuma let her hand drop to put the cigarette out in his ashtray. "Maybe…it'd be _like_ that crazy arbitrary b-st-rd to be this random…"

"Well…if he does…" Wakaba said slowly, putting her hand on Terazuma's arm. "Then he won't mind _this_…" Wakaba leaned upwards and lightly put her lips to Terazuma's.

Neither Wakaba nor Terazuma were quite aware when his hands buried themselves in her hair and pulled her face closer to his, or when her arms wound tightly around his neck. Neither of them were quite aware of anything at all until they heard the faint sound of a giggle coming from outside the door.

"My, how one loses inhibitions easily…"

"D-mn _voyeurs_!" Terazuma yelled, his face turning an interesting shade of purplish-red. Yuma and Saya let out twin squeals and dashed away as Terazuma sprinted out the door after them, leaving Wakaba sitting on his desk, covering her mouth with her hand and blushing furiously.

It was a wonder what one could do once the power of touch was granted. For a moment, all she felt was the rushing sensation of how deprived she had felt for all those years, not even able to hold hands with him because of Kagan Kuroshungei's temper.

'If that Shiki tries to go back on it now, I'll kick his butt!' Wakaba thought vehemently in her head, already prepared for righteous anger. Her eyes caught sight of Terazuma's ashtray, stuffed with 5 cigarette butts. She sniffed at them disgustedly, and then smiled to herself.

"I guess we don't change," she mused aloud.

"Moronic, nosy harpies, I outta—!" Terazuma stomped back into the office, his face not fully returned to normal coloration. "How can you _stand_ those twits, Kannuki?"

"Yeah, I guess we don't," Wakaba whispered to herself at the sound of her last name, and frowned. "They're fun, Hajime."

"If you _like_ being spied on and attacked," Terazuma grumbled.

Wakaba made a small noise in her throat and looked away.

"Hey…Kannuki?"

"Yes?" She turned her head to look at him.

"Sorry. I mean," Terazuma continued at the sight of her confused face, "all you did was give me on li'l kiss and I was about to shove my tongue down your throat if those crazy broads hadn't…I should've stopped myself."

"And did I," Wakaba asked, hopping off his desk, "give you any indication that I wanted you to stop?"

"You…" Terazuma blinked, caught off-guard by the question.

"And I'll tell you something else, Hajime, a girl doesn't enjoy a romantic moment like that after _years_ of waiting for it just to be called by her last name two seconds afterwards!" Wakaba yelled, her face bright red and angry tears welling in her eyes.

"I…" Terazuma's face widened with alarm. "What are you talking about?"

"You're such a clueless jerk!" Wakaba yelled, now directly in his face.

Terazuma grabbed her head and smacked her mouth with his own. Wakaba pulled back and raised her arm as if to slap him.

"There." Wakaba's raised hand instead patted him on the cheek, and Terazuma pulled out of his instinctive flinch to stare at her in wonder. "Now I know how you really feel. You hate it when I'm mad at you, don't you?"

"Um…" Terazuma said bewilderedly, "yeah…?"

"That means you like me!" Wakaba exclaimed, all traces of anger disappearing with her sunny smile.

"Was I just _played_?" Terazuma yelped, the proverbial steam pouring out of his ears.

"I'm sorry, Hajime," Wakaba apologized sincerely. "But if I hadn't, you would've gone on berating yourself and we'd never have gotten anywhere."

"But Kagan…he's gonna—"

"Kuro is your Shikigami. It's his job to protect you, right?" Wakaba cut in. "So if you're not transforming at my touch, that means he's decided it's safe for you to be around me."

"That crazy dictator…" Terazuma growled, desperately in need of a cigarette.

"You know what else Kuro might want you to do?" Wakaba asked.

"I don't care _what_—"

"He might want you to call me "Wakaba"," she said before he could begin one of his patented, infamous rants. "Or…that could just be what _I_ want," she amended, standing on her tiptoes to look him in the eye.

"Kannuki…"

"Ah-ah-ah." She pressed a finger to his nose.

"I mean…I mean, Wakaba," he fixed himself with a stutter, suddenly uncomfortable with the close proximity. He was expecting his body to disappear in a puff of smoke to be replaced by a gigantic black lion any second now. The sweating and rise in temperature that came with being close to Wakaba had reported for duty, but the actual transforming part had yet to manifest itself.

"There, that wasn't so awful, was it, Hajime?" Wakaba asked, smiling brightly. "Try and say my first name more often from now on, okay?"

"Er…" Terazuma stepped away, attempting some collectedness. "I'm not making make any promises, okay?"

"Hajime…" Wakaba whispered, hurt eyes pouting at him.

"But…uh…I'll try, okay?" he quickly added, and was speedily rewarded with a vivid smile that took up all of his female partner's face.

"Good." Wakaba planted a small kiss on the tip of his nose. "Now, I absolutely _must_ tell everyone that Kuro lets me touch you!"

"Wakaba!"

"See? Saying my name isn't so hard, now, is it?"

"Did you just trick me again?" Terazuma yelped.

Wakaba giggled. "Maybe…"

* * *

"Here…again?"

"Does it bother you?" Hisoka asked, turning back to look at his husband.

"No, I'm just surprised that it doesn't bother _you_," Tsuzuki responded. He had only seen the sakura trees of Kamakura once, but he was intimidated by the black, knotted trunks and the perfectly formed pale pink blooms on their branches, like a slightly discolored and overtly sinister yin-yang symbol. "I thought you never wanted to see this place again?"

"I never want to see my _parents_ again," Hisoka replied. "At least…not until I can look them in the eye and not want to rip their heads off."

"You said you were—"

"Over it? I thought I was, too." Hisoka frowned and stopped in his tracks. Tsuzuki brushed Hisoka's hand and then took it, leaning his head against Hisoka's.

"What do you want to do here?" he asked quietly.

"Follow me."

Hisoka pulled on Tsuzuki's hand and Tsuzuki obeyed in silence, letting his eyes wander to stare at the sakura trees, as if challenging them to try and carry out their ominous threat, imagined or no.

"This is it," Hisoka said softly.

"Hisoka, this is that place!" Tsuzuki exclaimed before he could stop himself. In an instant, flashes of that day weeks ago, of Hisoka's seizure and those haunting screams, poured into his mind like frightened people clamoring to escape out of an emergency exit all at once.

"Mm," Hisoka acknowledged in his throat, looking up at the unfeeling, madness-inducing blossoms that observed but did not act. He swayed, let go of Tsuzuki's hand, and took an uncertain step forward.

"Hisoka…" Tsuzuki reached out his hand but Hisoka did not look back, instead taking a few more hesitant steps forward until he reached the trunk of the tree. He placed his hand on the bark, and then sunk to the ground.

Tsuzuki hesitated, and then followed in Hisoka's wake, dropping to his knees and reaching out for Hisoka's shoulder. Hisoka flinched at the touch and Tsuzuki pulled back, but Hisoka made no further signs of protest and Tsuzuki replaced his hand.

"Hisoka…"

"I just want to sit here," Hisoka answered the unspoken question, difficultly. "Sit here and…to just prove that I can."

"Okay," Tsuzuki acquiesced slowly. "I understand."

Tsuzuki adjusted himself to sit on the ground, his legs curled to the side of him. After a long, silent moment, he reached out and pulled an immobile Hisoka into him, putting his arms around him in a solid embrace.

"No more going it alone, okay? We'll get there. We promised."

Hisoka nodded mutely, and shut his eyes against the atrocity of the sakura tree. Tsuzuki gently kissed Hisoka's temple and held him more tightly.

"No more going it alone," Hisoka repeated in a whisper. "No more…alone."


End file.
